Photo Shoot

Last year, I think maybe even during R&R, we got to spend the morning with our good friends Matt & Erin. Erin, at the time, had just started up her new photography business and generously did a mini-photo shoot for us. She is incredibly talented and her business has completely taken off! Check out her website and her blog to see snapshots of all her recent clients. Here are a few of the shots she got of us in downtown Bluffton.

Pitter Patter Goes My Heart

Happy 2nd Anniversary to the best man I've ever known!

I am so excited that we are actually able to be together for this anniversary. I woke up to a beautiful bouquet of pink tulips and we are headed to dinner tonight at one of our favorite restaurants downtown. Last year we decided that we would save the big gifts and/or big celebrations/trips for the every-five year anniversary. But I still wanted to get him a little something today. So, in keeping with the traditional second anniversary gift, I went with all-things COTTON! I made him a card out of 100% cotton paper and then got him a new bow tie (100% pure cotton, of course!) and new (cotton) dress socks with a sign in the box that read "I love you from head to toe!"

I can't seem to stop thinking about our wedding day. Even last night I found myself thinking, "This time two years ago we were at the church rehearsing...." I think anniversaries are intended to be spent reminiscing about the day and more importantly the vows that were made.

Johnny and I have weathered many storms during the first two years of our marriage. Only being together for about 6 of those 24 months, we have endured Ranger School, a year deployment and the dreaded "adjustment period." But thankfully, God has his hand on our marriage and we didn't give up even during the toughest of times, and we have come out of all that stronger and more seasoned for the rest of life's ups and downs. I have more respect and love for him today than I did on our wedding day and quite frankly, two years ago, I didn't think that was possible!

So, to the man I dream of when we are apart, and cherish when we are together - I LOVE YOU, Always and Forever!

Marriage is a Funny Thing

I usually drive home from work in the evenings with a magazine in my lap because traffic is horrendous. Don't worry I only use it to occupy my lack of patience and ADD-self during completely stopped moments in my commute. I am an excellent driver and I would never read or be the slightest bit distracted while driving. Never.

On this one particular evening, I was super excited to get home. Johnny had been in Ft. Drum, NY for a week for work and I couldn't wait to get home to see him. As I was flipping through my Every Day with Rachael Ray magazine, I came across an ad for laundry detergent. And much to my dismay, it was a "scratch-n-sniff" type ad to smell the new scent Fresh Water Sparkle. I LOVE scratch-n-sniff...I mean, honestly, who didn't like scratch-n-sniffs as a kid?!

So what does any woman who's excited to get home to her husband do?

Use it as perfume, duh.

Yes, that's right, I didn't even hesitate. Scratch, scratch and up to my neck it went.

I finally got home and attacked Johnny with welcome home hugs and kisses and guess what he said?

"You smell good, Amanda!"

"Why thank you hunny, it's called Fresh Water Sparkle, it's new." :)


-the end-

Getting Ready...

It's almost time to welcome the man back home. I think it is actually starting to sink in finally. It is such a mixture of emotions....excitement, anxiousness, a little nervous, lots of happy tears, and relief. Would it be terrible for me to say that it's hard for me to remember what life was like when he was home? I had to email him this morning to find out what kind of soap he uses these days so I could stock the bathroom with his products again. What a weird feeling to not know what kind of soap your husband uses.



He is officially out of Iraq and currently waiting in Kuwait for his flight home. He sent me an email yesterday once they arrived to Kuwait after packing up and saying good-bye to the only "home" he's known for the past year. He said, "I am glad to be out of that place. It was weird leaving; It was like moving out of an apartment...you take one last look around and hope that wherever you go next is better, and hope to never go back there again."

Below is a video my mom sent me this morning with the disclaimer to not watch it at work because it was a tear-jerker, the happy kind. Well, everything is a tear-jerker these days; I am so my mother's daughter! And of course I didn't listen to her because I watched it as soon as I got into the office!

My favorite part on the video is when he points to the soldier and says "You ARE the man!"

What an exciting time...he's coming home...and he is actually gonna stay put for awhile!!

R&R Recap

Remember way back when, like back in May when Johnny was home from Iraq for 2 weeks and I couldn't stop gushing about how amazing our time together was?! We tried to cram all of our favorite things we love to do together into two weeks. We even made a list of all the things we wanted to do about 2 months before he actually came home. And I KNOW we accomplished most things off that list because as I was writing the captions for the pictures below I kept wanting to start off each sentence with, "One of our favorite past times...".

We really did have an incredible two weeks together. I don't think it could have been any better quite frankly. The fact that we hadn't seen each other for 7 months didn't seem to phase us because we jumped right back into our life and it was almost as if he had never left. It really did refuel us for the rest of the deployment and reassured me that we were going to be fine.

One of our "fancy" dinners out in Savannah. We love getting
dressed up and eating delicious food!

Playing cards and drinking beers at home :)

Pickling okra

Fancy dinner at Grill 225 in Charleston. We were celebrating our one year wedding anniversary since we weren't together for it in February. Look at how cute he looks in his bow tie!! Love it!

At The Citadel for the Parade.

Our couples massage at Savannah Day Spa....amazing!

Cleaning his bike after we got caught riding in a major rain storm.

Out for Mexican on Cinco de Mayo with friends.

Clarification

I had a friend say they were worried about me and Johnny after reading my last post and I thought to myself, "Why in the world would that make her worried about us?" And then I re-read my post and realized some of you may think that I posted that song because I am in the depths of despair with a broken heart.

BUT GOOD NEWS!

Johnny and I are just as obsessed with each other as we were last month and probably even more crazy, madly in love than we were when we got married :) Are you done throwing up yet?! We couldn't be happier....well....actually...I would be a whole heck of a lot happier if he lived in our home with me and NOT in Iraq, but that's beside the point.

The reason I love that song is because I feel like there are so many people in my life right now who ARE hurting and who aren't able to see the light at the end of the marriage-trouble-tunnel. And my heart breaks for them. I was hoping that the song may give them an ounce of hope so that they could continue to fight for a strong and lasting marriage. Johnny and I fight for our marriage every day, because I don't want to take the chance to "take a day off" and give the enemy a chance to creep in. The divorce rate is steadily rising and quite frankly, I don't want to end up a statistic.

And I just really liked the song...that's all! :)

So, just in case you were wondering, there's no need to worry about us! I'll nauseate you with pictures from R&R soon!

Love is Not a Fight by Warren Barfield

I am currently loving this song that's been playing on the Christian radio station lately. It's from the movie Fireproof and if you haven't seen the movie yet, it really does have a powerful message. The acting is a little weak...so just keep that in mind going into it, but the impact of the movie left me in tears! And there is this incredible devotion/ 40-day marriage challenge that you can pick up at your local Christian book store that I know will bestow blessings upon blessings on both you and your spouse. Whether your marriage is amazing or you are completely out of hope, I hope you enjoy this song. And don't give up. Nothing is impossible for God.

Go HERE to listen to the song.

BTW - I've added a music playlist down at the very bottom of this page, so be sure to pause it if you click on that link to listen to the song. It's also at the bottom in my playlist if you'd rather not click the link to watch the music video to go along with it on YouTube :)

And below are the lyrics....

Love is not a place
To come and go as we please
It's a house we answer in
Then commit to never leave

So lock the door behind you
Throw away the key
We'll work it out together
Let it bring us to our knees

Chorus:
Love is a shelter in a raging storm
Love is peace in the middle of a war
And if we try to leave, may God send angels to guard the door
No, love is not a fight but it's something worth fighting for

To some, love is a word
That they can fall into
But when they're falling out
Keeping that word is hard to do

Chorus:
Love is a shelter in a raging storm
Love is peace in the middle of a war
And if we try to leave, may God send angels to guard the door
No, love is not a fight but it's something worth fighting for

Love will come to save us
If we'll only call
He will ask nothing from us
But demand we give our all

Chorus:
Love is a shelter in a raging storm
Love is peace in the middle of a war
And if we try to leave, may God send angels to guard the door
No, love is not a fight but it's something worth fighting for

I will fight for you
Would you fight for me?
It's worth fighting for

AAAHHHHHH......

That is a sigh of relief and complete and utter happiness. Johnny arrived home after traveling for 61 hours on Saturday afternoon. I was a total wreck, cleaning everything in sight and so anxious I couldn't stand still to save my life! My parents were there, Johnny's parents were there and his sister, brother-in-law and our two little nieces (one of which Johnny had never met!).


I have to admit I was a little nervous for our reunion and how it would be between us after being apart for six months, but now that he's home I have no clue what in the world I was worried about. It is literally like he never left! We are having a blast together and there was no adjustment period needed. It has truly reassured me that when he goes back to Iraq in two weeks that we will be fine and I know we'll be able to make it through the next 6 months.

Enjoy the several hundred pictures I've posted. My friend Chelsea is an amazing photographer and graciously agreed to come to the airport to take pictures for me. I am so thankful she was there and able to capture our sweet reunion on film :) THANKS CHELSEA!!

(Don't forget you can click on the picture to enlarge it.)

PS - As I'm sitting upstairs in the office writing this post and I can hear Johnny downstairs watching TV and laughing, and man oh man, how it makes my heart smile. I love having him home again. Life is exactly how it should be again.

I couldn't stand still! Looking for him amidst all the people!

There he is!!

Johnny and Elena...she warmed right up to him again!

Johnny and our sweet new little niece, Samantha Pepper

One Year Anniversary

One year ago exactly, I married my best friend. It was an incredible February day in Charleston, blue skies and 70 degree weather. Everything was perfect and I was floating on cloud 9. I had an unbelievable peace and calmness about everything. I know without a doubt that God made us for each other. The past year has been a complete whirlwind, but I have experienced love in a way I didn't know existed from a man who continues to blow me away every single day with his patience and love and commitment to God and our marriage. I feel so blessed to be called his wife.

Enjoy the pictures from our special day :)

The Little Things

This my friends, is romantic. When you are hundreds of miles apart and can only communicate through hand-written letters, it's the little things that melt my heart.

(You can click on the picture for a close-up.)

Hand-picked flowers by my one and only, laminated to the back of the envelope. Is he just not the sweetest husband ever?!! (okay, you can stop throwing up now, the mushy part is over!)