Dave and Busters Date

As you know, yesterday was mine and Husband's one year wedding anniversary.  To celebrate, we went out to Dave and Buster's, ate some really good food, plaid some games, won lots of tickets and spent them on candy, iPhone speaker and a to go coffee cup.  We had so much fun together.  Just being in each other's company was enough for me.  

 {We know each other so well that we ended up getting each other the same card!  There's actually a really funny story behind these possum cards.  One that makes me kind of hate possums.  It involves a dead possum, a crawl space and lots of crying.}

{This is a dress that I've had for months!  I got it at Tiger Lily in Edmond while killing time before a friend's wedding.  I couldn't resist.  As you all know, I'm big on sales.  This dress was originally $40.  I got it for $10!!!  I've been keeping it safe in the backseat of my car ever since July.  And it still fits!  I wanted to wear a special dress for a very special occasion.}

One Year of Bliss

This may be my longest post yet.  I have so much to share, so much for which to be thankful.  A year ago today I married the man of my dreams, my best friend, my partner in crime, and the love of my life.  I feel so blessed to be able to call such a wonderful man Husband.  All of our family and friends were in town, (some of which [family] I was meeting for the first time.)  It was such a joyous moment and one that brings a smile to my face and butterflies in my stomach every time I think about it.  I'm excited to see where this God-given journey takes us in the years to come.  Looking forward to sharing many more memories and making so many new ones.  Thank you to everyone who has helped us along this path and who helped make this day so extra special for us!

                               {I love this one of Mom putting on David'd boutenniere.}

                                        {How many girls does it take to put on a wedding dress?}

 {That's right.  Part of my dress fastenings broke as we were putting it on and I had to be pinned in!}

 {Hand-made invitations. Mom and her group of friends put so much effort into them.  They even made the clay leaves themselves.}

 {Some of my wonderful friends whom I am glad could be there.  They sang one of my favorite choral songs in the wedding: Where Your Barefoot Walks By David Childs. (See a YouTube video of the song here)}

 {Our photographer Ruth Reese told the bridesmaids to pretend like they were throwing their pumpkin at David.  One bridesmaid actually threw it and Ruth caught the pumpkin mid flight!}

Happy 100 Posts!

It is with excitement that can say I've finally reached 100 posts!  To commemorate, I am going to repost some of the milestone posts from our lives.  These were some pretty exciting moments!  Proposal, getting our house, decorating house, our puppy's first birthday... So many wonderful things and big changes have happened since starting this blog way back in the day. Hard to believe I've had it for about 3 years now.  (Though really it's like it's been one since I wrote in it mostly this year.  But 3 years sounds better.)  I hope you all enjoy the walk down memory lane.  Thank you for reading and I'm glad you could join me today in celebrating my 100th post!

         September 26, 2011

"David and I spent most of the 4th of July at my grandmother's house popping firecrackers, baking cookies and spending time with my family.  That night, we went to Riverpark's big fireworks show.  My cousin and a couple of mine and David's friends were in attendance.  One of his friends happened to be taking photos of the fireworks.  David casually asked his friend to take pictures of us.  So we stood up and hugged for the pictures.  David began digging in his pocket and before I knew it, he was kneeling down on one knee!  With the fireworks blossoming in the background, David asked me to marry him!!  I squealed as tears sprang to my eyes and said YEEEESS!!  That was the happiest moment of my life!  I was completely and utterly surprised.  I cannot wait to spend the rest of our lives together.  I could not ask for a better man to be my husband and take care of me.  Say hello to the future Mrs. Linde!!"

February 1, 2012

       The house is ours!! 

"We closed on Tuesday.  And by 'we' I mean David.  I was unfortunately stuck in Edmond doing mundane things such as choir and opera rehearsals...(during which we did get a lot accomplished.)  It is move in ready and we (and again I mean 'we' as in David and my Parents) have begun moving things in.  My parents came down yesterday and help load up the bedroom suite that we got from EARC Thrift store.  It's very nice!  A 5 piece set at a very decent price.  We also got to enjoy a delicious dinner at Earl's Rib Palace, (home of Oklahoma's best BBQ!!)  Though I will be going there this weekend to help with the moving process.  Maybe now would be a good time to clear out a few of my holiday decoration tubs that are sitting in my kitchen in Edmond and taking up space in the shed out back... Surely there's room for 4 tubs somewhere..."

                                                              January 31, 2013

"Pardon the mess, but it's almost heard to believe that this is the same living room.  Everything in the house was white, white, white!  We needed some color in there ASAP.  The paint color is Pomegranate I believe, and it was a perfect match for our red barn paintings.  The paintings actually have a fun story behind them.  The first one shown in the corner with the table lamp (from Kirkland's, love that place) was from a place in Tulsa called Persimmon Hollow Village.  It's a neat place full of rustic buildings containing anything from wood working to Coca Cola memorbilia.  We got it for about $5!!  The 4 small ones, we found on one of our antique excursions somewhere in Oklahoma. They are all 5 painted on what looks to be linen, or a fine burlap, all bearing the same signature.  I call this my Christmas room because of the red and the snow pictures.  Decorating this house was just so much fun!!"

                                                                       February 17, 2013

"Today, our little puppy turned 1 year old!! Back in September, we adopted him from the SPCA. One of the best decisions we made! He is so precious. We couldn't have chosen a better dog. Actually, he's the first dog I've ever had, so naturally we spoil him rotten! Both of his grandmothers came over today with precious gifts for our precious puppy! I baked a cake for the special occasion. (None of the ingredients harmful to dogs.). And it was super easy to make!! And it didn't taste half bad, only a little bland: natural peanut butter, flour, shredded carrots, being the main ingredients.  The recipe can be found HERE."

The New Mrs.

    This past weekend I had a blessed opportunity to be a part of one of my dear friends, Sarah's wedding.  It was a perfect day!  It was full of music and everything that was so suited to Sarah.  The family and bridal party walked down the aisle to the introductory song from Pixar's UP.  The rest of  the music was smooth jazz. She was such a beautiful bride.  I couldn't be more happy for her.  By now, the new Mr. and Mrs. Spurrier are probably enjoying themselves in Florida on their honeymoon!  It was an extra special experience to sing David Child's Where Your Barefoot Walks with some of my best friends.  It was made extra special by the fact that it was the same song they sang at my wedding also.  Sarah wanted to carry on the tradition and I loved it.

    Their reception was vintage carnival themed, with large metal tubs of popcorn to scoop into little brown paper bags, garlands of burlap, an iPad photobooth, and a caricature artist.  One of the most unique things that I have never seen before was a s'mores bar.  It was delicious!  There were all the fixins, such as three different kinds of graham crackers, chocolate bars, and marshmallows.  Wooden skewers were provided to roast the marshmallows over a display of little bunson burners.  CONGRATULATIONS, MR. AND MRS. THOMAS SPURRIER!!!

Countdown to Fall

Fall is by far my favorite season.  I love everything about it.  The crisp air, fallen leaves, hot chocolate, pumpkin spice lattes, the way anticipation hangs in the air, time with family, fog, Halloween!, Thanksgiving, fellowship, apples, pumpkin carving, warm apple cider, pumpkin and pecan pies...the list can go on and on. Nothing beat a crisp fall morning, dressing in a sweater, leggings, boots and a scarf and walking the couple of blocks to school while fog was still in the air, drinking a hot mug of coffee...mmm.  Everything seems so peaceful and silent.  Can it be Fall already, please??
 
  Now I know countdowns typically start lower, and end with the top spot, but I can't resist starting with number one on my list. Mine and Hubby's 1 year wedding anniversary!!  This blog started off as a log of the wedding planning but kind of fell by the wayside with so much going on with school, job, opera, recital and planning a wedding.  So I figured I'd give everyone a peek into the beautiful day that couldn't have come together more perfectly!

                                            {Precious cousin flower girl and ring bearers}

 {Story behind this is: Photographer told my ladies to pretend like they were going to throw pumpkins at Hubby.  One of them actually did throw it, and it was caught in mid-flight!!}

 

                  {Our lovely wedding party.  Each one of these people meant so much to us!}

                 {Hand carved synthetic pumpkin with a tealight that my bridesmaids carried in}

                                                  {Wedding shoesand rings}

                                                             {As husband and wife!}

 

 {Delicious cake! Red velvet, marble, and white.  We should have made the biggest tier instead of the smallest tier be the Red Velvet.  We played nice during the feeding of the cake and didn't smash it into each other's faces}

                             {Blushing bride and Handsome Husband}                 

                                           {Three generations; Grandma, Mama, Me}

 {Blowing bubbles for our exit. Everything seemed to happen so quickly!!}

I Love My Daddy

Happy Father's Day!!  Let me start off by saying that I love my daddy!  That's right, I'm 27 years old and still call him daddy.  I don't think I will ever be too old to call him that.  Daddy is such an endearing name.  It encompasses how much I love him, look up to him and appreciate him.  I have included some growing up moments with Daddy.  Pictures from our summer trips to North Carolina (which I haven't been able to go on in a couple of years because of having a bnig girl job,) taking our gun safety class together, buying fireworks to bring back to OK, and one of my favorite Daddy moments: him giving me away at my wedding. 

At a glass works shop at Wilmington's Cotton Exchange Shops.
(That wooden armadilla on the top shelf is Cora the Armadilla; our trip mascott that year.)

< Dad, Nan Sarah and I at her home in South Carolina.


>Buying fireworks accross the state line on our way home from NC.

                            Such a sweet, sweet moment in all our lives: the day I became a Linde.