Playing hooky!

Last Monday Stephen and I played hooky at work and spent the day in Pacific City with my parents! They were on the back end of their Oregon Coast vacation and we thought it would be fun to spend some time with them before they left for Idaho, so we headed West to stay a night at their condo. 


Oh, wait. Did I forget to mention they have beach condo? ....!!!  :)


Lucky 'lil parents of mine are very happy owners of a beach condo in Pacific City! And it's gorgeous! The place is set up just like my momma would design, very tasteful, and it's right on the ocean with an amazing view... It's perfect for them! They've been looking and talking about this for years, I'm so happy they've finally done it! Couldn't think of more deserving people :)


We got to do lots of fun thing while we were there. My favorite, of course, was simply walking the beaches, looking for sand dollars, climbing the rocks, playing in tide pools...our usual Oregon Coast activities. 


Most people dream of warm beaches with hot, white sand, no wind, blue sky, laying out with a drink in hand... And trust me, that certainly sounds nice! But the Oregon Coast is by far my most favorite place I've ever been. Two coats, pants, a scarf, and ratty hair from the wind... I don't mind! It holds so much meaning to Stephen and I, and my family. I could walk the beach for hours and sit motionless and speechless watching the waves. Doesn't get any better than that :)


This day, though, we were blessed with very nice weather, and the very best of company. 

Feeding the local bunnies.
SO cute!

Hubby and I :)

Momma and I playing in the tide pools

Daddy's little girl :)

One of the many gorgeous views.

Bike ride through town.

Stephen and I are truly blessed to have such amazing parents. We are so thankful for everything they've done for us. What a fun way to say goodbye to them, a day at our favorite place :) 


We love you mom and dad! <3

And so the adventure begins!

WE'RE MARRIED! :) Stephen and I got hitched two Monday's ago on July 11th, a very important day for my family. My parents met on July 11th (7/11) at a Seven Eleven store. They dated for exactly 7 months 11 days; my sister was born at 7:11 pm and weighed 7 lbs 11 oz. And! Her husband, Byron, and my husband (that's fun to say!) both weighed 7 lbs 11 oz when they were born, too! CRAZY! So, our wedding day is MY 7.11. And I couldn't be more excited!

The day was PERFECT! ...The whole weekend was perfect! We were both so happy to have all our friends and family in town; we are so grateful they all flew in to share our day with us!

Most of our time was spent doing last minute errands and arts and crafts for the wedding, and lots of eating out and hanging out in good company :)

On Monday the wedding party got to the barn early to finish setting up (so grateful for their help!), then headed back into town for lunch and showers. All us girls got ready together at the barn - lots of curling irons and hair spray! Stephen and I had our first look not too long after...boy was he handsome :) Lots and lots of pictures before the ceremony...lots and lots of smiles and tears :)

When it came time to walk down the aisle there were no nerves, just pure joy and excitement! My dad was being so sweet and sentimental, giving away his baby girl, he kept making me cry! I made it to the alter with only a few mascara streaks down my face :)

Stephen's dad, Jeff, married us, and it was such a wonderful experience! He did such a good job of representing us as a couple and even threw in a few jokes. It meant so much to have him do that.

Stephen and I wrote our own vows, and I'm so glad we did that, too! I loved hearing Stephen's sweet words - how awesome it was that he was professing his love in front of all our family and friends, and promising himself to me for the rest of our lives. I couldn't have picked a better man :) I have our vows on wrinkled and tear stained paper, looking forward to making a shadow box for them!

The rest of the night went by in a flash! I have never been so happy! Perma smile the whole night! :) Lots of dessert and dancing! ...Lots of dancing! We had a photobooth which was also a blast! (Definitely recommend it to others!) Looking back through the pictures is a hoot!

My feet were killing me by the end of the night (seriously, so much dancing!) but it didn't bother me one bit! I could not have imagined a more perfect day for Stephen and I. So in love and so happy :)