Adventure in Arizona

Caleb's precious grandparents offered for us to use their timeshare points for our honeymoon.  After researching the different resorts available, we settled on the Cibola Vista Resort and Spa in Peoria, Arizona, because of the beautiful pictures of the accommodations we viewed online.  Neither of us had ever been to Arizona, and we excitedly decided we would drive up to the Grand Canyon during our week's stay there.

After our beach reception, Caleb's best man, Jacob, drove us to the tiny Gulfport airport.  We made it just in time- we only had a few minutes to spare before boarding our plane!  Once buckled into our seats, we slept.  When we arrived in Houston, our layover location, we discovered our next flight had been cancelled.  Everything worked out WONDERFULLY when we went to the counter.  Our seats were next to each other on the flight (our tickets for that flight had placed us on separate rows), we had time to eat lunch before boarding, and each of us even received a meal voucher!  Once on the plane, we realized that we had definitely been upgraded.  This plane had enough leg room in between rows so that Caleb's knees weren't smashed into the seat in front of him. :)  There was a crazy cat lady as well.  We started hearing meowing.  I'm not kidding.  A woman a few rows in front of us reaches into the overhead compartment and pulls out not one cat carrier, but two.  Yes, she had two cats on the plane.  When the meowing was quieted, I slept more.  At one point I remember waking up when my head hit Caleb's shoulder.  That was the happiest kind of tired I've ever experienced!

We picked the perfect place!!!  Caleb and I fell in love with Peoria.  Actually, we fell in love with every part of Arizona that we saw- Peoria, Sedona, the Grand Canyon, and everything in between.  The resort we stayed in was everything we expected, and more.  We had two balconies to visit for breathtaking scenery.

The next morning, we worshipped at the Church of Christ in Glendale.  I got to see my cousin Ashley, and we just had a great morning there!  I loved the old time hymns they sang, and the lesson was uplifting and encouraging.

On our way to the Grand Canyon, we wanted to take a detour through Sedona.  Our plan was to check out a natural rock slide, but the lines were incredibly long!  We needed to get to the Grand Canyon well before dark, so we did less touristy stuff.  We stopped at a little creek, and though the temperature was in the 100s, the water was frigid!  Caleb also wanted to do a little rock climbing, so we pulled off on the side of the road for that. ;)  I had to be the photographer, so I couldn't go with him......

The drive from Sedona to the Grand Canyon was the most beautiful drive I've ever taken.  Awesome would be an accurate word to describe the scenery.  I was in awe of my God.  There was a pull-off where Native Americans had booths set up and were selling little Christmas ornaments, jewelry, dream catchers.  I regret not buying a keepsake!  There was a spot up there as well that offered such a gorgeous view.  The picture below does not do it justice at all.  We also drove by Humphrey's Peak, and we took about 30 pictures of it; it was in our view for a long part of our drive!

Humphrey's Peak

And then we made it to the Grand Canyon.  Once again, pictures don't do it justice.  The view was worth dodging all of the tourists to get to the railing and look over.  Like I said... God is awesome.  There was also a friendly elk in the parking lot that we made friends with. :)  We only slightly disobeyed the signs that said, "DO NOT APPROACH WILDLIFE."

On a side note, we freaked out a little on our way back from the GC because we had a large withdrawal from our rental car company, though we had already paid for the car months in advance.  Turns out it was just a deposit though.  No freak out needed after all :)

We ate. A LOT.  Target was just down the road from our resort, and we loaded up on candy, a couple of times throughout the week.  Ghirardelli chocolate, Sour Patch Kids, gummy bears, Sprees, peach-o's.  The scales did not look so pretty when we returned. ;)

Smash Burger

Parlor Pizza lived up to its reputation!

Breakfast by Laura

And of course, Starbucks

Lake Pleasant was only a few miles down the road from our resort.  It was so pretty- like an oasis in the desert.  The lake actually supplies the Phoenix area with its water.  The gift shop worker told us all we needed to know about the lake, and more!  We told him we are in school in Louisiana, and he replied, "I've heard of that state." Haha!  We visited Lake Pleasant twice to swim around and look at fish with our goggles.  The water was so clear!  I'm used to muddy Mississippi water.  We also kayaked around the lake and saw some wild donkeys.  They were adorable!  There was a baby that galloped clumsily down to the water to get a drink.

We made another friend.

We hiked a trail that was not far from our place at all.  The full version of the story goes like this:  We first attempted the hike in the middle of the afternoon, right after lunch.  I majorly wimped out from the heat and full stomach combination.  Our next attempt was later in the evening, and it was successful!

Excuse the wet-from-lake-then-wind-blown-dry hair 

Caleb was much more adventurous than me!

We saw awesome plant life on our hike.  I was fascinated by all of the cacti and other desert plants.  (Hey, this could go wonderfully in a lesson on plant adaptations in 5th grade science!)  There are three little cactus plants from Wal-Mart in our apartment to always remind us of Arizona.

This one reminds me of something from a Dr. Seuss book.

And wow, that sunset.  Have I said that God is leaves me in awe?

That Friday morning, we got up at 2:00 a.m. in order to catch our 5:00 flight.  We returned our rental car, and donated the water bottles we had left over to the guys working in the garage.  Then we shuttled to the airport, and waited sleepily to board.  On our layover in Houston we had Shipley's, our favorite!  You would think Caleb and I are morning people from the time of our wedding ceremony and our 5:00 flight, but we certainly are not.  The 5:00 flight was the cheapest. :)

My sweet Mama and Daddy picked us up from the airport and treated us to Chic-Fil-A.  The reception preparations began immediately!  Oh, and those cool Wikle girls made us "welcome home" signs :) So thoughtful!

Oh my.  Now I want to go back SO BADLY!  Go visit Arizona if you've never been.  You won't regret it!

Wedding Part IV: The Wedding Day (Finally)

And I need you now tonight,
And I need you more than ever.
And if you only hold me tight,
Then we'll be holdin' on for ever.

"You weren't kidding!"

These are the sounds that woke me up at 3:10 a.m. on my wedding day.  Before we had gone to sleep, I told the girls what I use as my ringtone.  When it went off, Kate voiced her belief, only after she heard it for herself. :)

I ran (well, stumbled) up to Mrs. Darlene's hotel room with Emily, finding that my mom and Liz had beat me there.  The beautification began as Emily brewed coffee for us- an obvious necessity.  Though at such an unusual hour, getting pampered by Mrs. Darlene and Anna was quite relaxing!  After my mom and I were ready, the beautifiers headed down to the girls' room to get everyone else fixed up.  In the meanwhile, Liz took me down to the hotel lobby to take some shots of me.

Here's a nice wedding memory.
A man who looked to be in his late 50s or early 60s walked up to Liz and me in the lobby and struck up a conversation about our wedding.  Thinking that this may be a relative of Caleb's, I gave up more information than I should have about where the ceremony was to be held.  (Looking back, I know very well every guest we invited.  I wasn't thinking so clearly).  The man asks, "Where's your ol' man?"  "He's getting ready, I guess," I offered.  "Well I'd like to bring him a gift at the ceremony.  It's all right if I come, isn't it?"
"Uhhhhhh......" is all I could come up with.
"Actually, she's having a private ceremony.  But I could meet you beforehand and get your gift to the groom," Liz responded.
Whew.  I'm glad she handled that.  If she didn't intervene, I very likely would have said, "Yeah I guess that would be okay," just to avoid hurting his feelings.
Only a couple of weeks ago, I found out that he ended up driving around the parking lot near the place where our ceremony was held.  Between Liz, Shannon, and Darwell, they took care of it.  I'll put it that way.  Problem avoided!

After my portraits, I went to my parents' hotel room and waited with my dad for the text from Shannon telling us to come on down.  We watched out of the window as all of our guests walked to their cars and head to the harbor.  We spent a special few minutes together, chatting excitedly about the day's past and future events.  When I got the text, we rushed to the 'Stang.

My cousin Chris snapped this shot of us on our way out.
I love this moment!

I had forgotten lipstick, and Kate brought me over a tube as I waited in the passenger seat.  (Kate, if you're reading this, go ahead and laugh.)  She pointed at Caleb and said, "Look how excited he is!"  He was anxiously pacing.  We then decided to put up the window shades so he wouldn't catch a glimpse of me as I spied on him.

The music started.  I marched down the aisle.  When asked the dreaded question, Daddy gave a hesitant and delayed, "I do." :)  The service was perfect.  Before the vows, Michael read a short piece from each of us, written about the other.  I would share, but Caleb way outdid me.  His words describing what he loves about me were eloquently written, and something I will always cherish!  This was such a special part of our wedding.  Michael had us promise to embody six characteristics of love, as described in the Bible: compassion, mercy, slow to anger, filled with unfailing love, faithfulness, and forgiveness.

Love this shot, both of my parents holding hands, and of Anna's priceless smile!

One of the few decisions on which Caleb had an opinion was the music.  Here is what we decided on, and a picture of one of our singers. :)  The instrumental portion of each song was acoustic guitar, except "We Shall Assemble," which was acapella.

Stand By Me

Somewhere Over the Rainbow/What A Wonderful World

We Shall Assemble

The Wedding Song

You're My Best Friend

Actually, Riley picked out the last song.  He said,
"If you let me sing Queen at your wedding, you'd be the coolest person ever!"

After we left the altar, I just remember lots and lots of hugs and smiles!

Liz took pictures of the wedding party and family, then stole Caleb and me away for a few minutes for some shots of just the two of us.  Now here's an encounter with a stranger that was much less creepy than the one earlier that morning.  A man in his SUV stopped as Liz was taking our pictures, and he gave us a little book about family and congratulated us.  It was touching!

We had a wonderful reception.  Wonderful people, wonderful food, wonderful cake, a couple of wonderful dances with my two favorite men.  It was National Dance Day, after all. :)

Here is another shot that Chris took at the reception.  Too good not to share!  She commented, "'My shoes are killing me!' was never uttered at this wedding.  Thank you, Mr. and Mrs. Baze for the sandy carpet."

With a ton of help from my parents, grandparents, bridesmaids, and so many other people, I truly had the wedding of my dreams!  I am so thankful for everyone that traveled so far to be there for us.  A gigantic special thanks to my parents for paying for my dream wedding, and for supporting me every step of the way.  I love y'all!

Take a look at some of our lovely guests!

The best in-laws I could ever dream of!

Classy "Dance Moms" ;)

How blessed are we to be surrounded by people who love and support us?  The world frowns on getting married as "young" as we are.  But God has given us so many encouragers, so many people that are just beyond excited for us.  We have been told time and time again that we are being prayed for.  What better feeling is there than to know you are in someone's prayers?  My prayer is that we can be truly affected by the beautiful marriages that surround us- our parents', our grandparents', Michael and Kathy's, and so many more from the three congregations of which we are a part.  I also pray that Caleb and I will use our experiences, our difficulties, our joyful times, to encourage others.  If I didn't know the love of Christ already, I do now.  It's beautiful that God can use us as instruments of His love.  I pray that I be an instrument to show Caleb His love.