The Honeymoon

I realized that I have not posted about any of the events leading up to our wedding, about the actual wedding (with the exception of this post about the special aspects of the ceremony and reception), or even about our honeymoon.

Since the honeymoon is the less stressful part of all that, I will start there :) Next, I'll post about the engagement, in honor of it being one year ago from today!! Stay tuned for that post.

So. The Honeymoon. It all started...well, when we left the church.

We drove straight to the gas station to fill up the tank because snow was coming and we were about to embark on a two hour drive to the North Georgia mountains! His parent's gave us their GPS system to follow to take us to our destination, because where we were headed had been a secret until then! It was called Falling Waters Mountain Lodge!! Visit their website and browse through the photos. It was SPECTACULAR! The owner took such great care of us.

The owner took this picture and texted it to my Mother-in-law, Terri, the day of our wedding, showing her what it looked like after the snow that day! So beautiful!!

In the distance, there is a lake, you just can't tell in the picture.

Here are some pictures I found on the lodge's Facebook page that the owner took the day of our wedding before we got there...

But, back tracking here...

On our way up to the lodge, we were driving on snow covered roads, in the downpour of more snow! The GPS was taking us a way that included a road that was too steep in the current weather conditions and our car was not going to make it. Among all the confusion of the snow and the GPS, we were almost ready to just turn around and go home. Daniel was convinced we were not going to make it to the lodge if the only route included steep roads covered in 2 inches of snow. (we were already sliding on the roads, as it was.)

We called the owner of the lodge, whom, by the way, was such a wonderful person! He was so helpful - he guided us down the correct roads and when we arrived, he greeted us at our car and carried my bag in for me because I was busy holding my dress, and trying not to slip in my heels and fall on the snow/ice.

As soon as we walked in, the owner handed us both a glass of wine! He gave us a quick tour that ended in our suite with a huge spread of cocktail shrimp, smoked salmon, medium rare steak, cheese and crackers, more red wine, fruit, and veggies!! We were starving so it was perfect! We dug right in. (Borrowed the picture below from the lodge's Facebook page as well... I'm SO glad he took these pictures! And posted them!!) :)

Unfortunately for everyone, I left my phone at the church because it is what we used for the music for the reception. So we do not have very many pictures from the stay at the lodge. But here are a few...

The owner decorated our suite for us! So romantic and perfect! That is two bottles of wine you see on the pillows. He got them for us from the local winery! (The first pic is from the lodge's facebook page too...)

The second day, we went to the local town and got a few drinks to add to what the owner already gave us!

This is my brand new husband, passed out while watching the Superbowl. :)

And here are a few videos to share as well...

We arrived at the lodge on Saturday night and departed for Atlanta again on Monday morning. We immediately got to work at my parent's house packing my stuff, and the packers were already there! I felt sorry for them because I thought it was going to be a large crew...but no, just three guys. And I had a LOT of stuff!! o.o

Never-the-less, they got it all packed up! Eventually!

Among all my stuff, there were the gifts we received at our reception that were still unopened, so there we stood, in my parent's living room, in the way of the poor packer men, opening all the wonderful gifts!!

It was so precious to see all the wonderful gifts and to know that we were taking it all with us to make our first home together in Texas. But first, the honeymoon must continue.

Our honeymoon consisted of two parts...or three actually!
1. The North Georgia mountains Bed & Breakfast resort - courtesy of Daniel's parents
2. The condo stay at the beach in Florida - courtesy of Daniel's grandparents who own the condo
3. Road trip to Texas - our first home together!! <3

We left for Florida before the packers finished but couldn't leave without saying our goodbyes to my Mom and Dad and taking a few pictures of all the packing action.

I miss my Daddy's kisses!!

 Standing in the room I grew up in.

  Daddy was sad that the empty room meant I was gone...

But then Daddy was happy to have a room to make his office!

I'd like to think these two pictures were in reverse order but they weren't :/ lol!!

All my stuff packed into my parent's living room!

 Coming up next on Hoarding: Buried Alive!

Where's Jenn?!

 

So then we were off! We said our goodbyes and shed some tears. We also stopped at Daniel's parent's house to say our goodbyes to them as well.

We drove to Florida and this is how Daniel slept on the way...

We arrived in Florida at Daniel's grandparent's beautiful condo and were greeted by one of their friends that gave us the key :) The community at the beach is so friendly and welcoming!! We walked in, dropped our stuff, and found this on the bed!

Daniel's grandparents, Mimi and Pop, have such sweet friends!! They gave us gifts and put them with a basket of goodies. Thank you Mimi and Pop and friends!! We appreciate all you have done for us. <3 Pop, we miss you everyday!

Big cheesin'. Standing on a dock after we ate lunch.

The bridge in the distance.

 We went to the local grocery store to get food to cook later.

Driving back to the condo.

 Poor sunken ship :/

 This is our amazing dinner we cooked together!! It was tuna steak, topped with mango salsa, with asparagus.

 SO yummy!! Daniel is an amazingggg cook!

 Medium rare tuna steak - the only way I will eat tuna! Lol!

 Daniel has this weird thing with laying on the floor. He looks relaxed though...

And here are a few more videos...

 

So then it was time for us to head home. To our own home - our first home - in beautiful Texas!!

The gorgeous sky during the drive.

We arrived in Texas but because of the timing, our water nor electricity were turned on at the house, so we had to stay in the barracks over the weekend. Where we were sleeping in a twin bed in the barracks, living out of our suitcases, and cleaning the barracks to get released out.

5 days later, and it was finally time to live in our first home!!

And the honeymoon continues everyday... ;) even 245 days later!

"That's not funny!"

Daniel's older brother, Dale, is a joy to anyone that knows him! His parents raised him tremendously well. And I'm not just saying that because they are my in-laws ;) Dale truly rocks that extra chromosome like it's a bonus; not a burden!! Daniel and I, along with my in-laws, agreed that allowing Dale to visit us here in Texas would be a blast!! So his parents sent him here for 5 1/2 days.

It was his first time flying alone and he said he had a good flight!

In the car, we were telling Dale about how Texas is and Daniel mentioned that we had cows in our backyard...his response: "You a farmer now?!"

Daniel also told Dale that our grass was getting tall and he saved the yard work for Dale to do while he was here...naturally, his response: "That's not funny!" :)

It was about 11:45am when he got in, so it was close to lunch time. We took him to a burger place that we had never been to before. It was very good and very expensive haha!

When we got to our house, Daniel gave Dale a tour. Dale has multiple passions, one of which is Spiderman! And comic books. So we bought him a little comic book we saw at a local store in Killeen so we could put it on his bed as a Welcome To Texas present for him :)

A few weeks prior, I was in contact with some old friends from Arizona. Thanks goes to Instagram! The Fair family and my family were stationed in Tucson together and, at the time, they only had two boys. They, since, have added three girls!! So precious. They live in Arkansas but through Instagram, I found out the second oldest son, Daniel, (not to be confused with my husband, Daniel), is going to college in Waxahachie, TX, which is only about 2.5 hours from Killeen. I called Mr. Fair and we arranged to meet the night they got into town and that night happened to be the same day Dale got into town too! So Dale joined us and the Fair's got to meet Daniel and Dale for the first time! We had a yummy dinner and wonderful fellowship. It was a true blessing to catch up with this precious family that knew me when I was about 3 years old! That is twenty years ago! Really wish my family could have been there too! It was impossible to catch up on nearly twenty years of life in the two hours we were with all together for dinner, but the time spent was well worth the drive and I am so thankful we were able to meet up even after all these years. I still feel so close to this family! God truly does bring great people into your lives, no matter where you are residing. :)

Borrowed this picture from Mrs. Fair's Facebook ;)

Mrs. Fair offered to take a picture of the three of us together because we hadn't gotten one yet! :) Thank you Zoie!

 It was close to 1 am when we were on the road back home and both of the boys fell asleep on me! :) SO CUTE!

Friday morning, Daniel took Dale fishing. I stayed home because I had to work. Daniel got some pretty sweet pictures!

They saw a deer!

It's a turtle!

They brought back one fish for lunch and Dale said he had a great time.

We found out about a family that run a Soldier Hospitality House (SHH) here in the Killeen area. (Their Facebook) They house families that need temporary housing, and they also open up their home to soldiers and their families every week on Friday and Saturday evenings for dinner and bible study. They also do much more than that too! They have four children; two boys and two girls (twins). The Soldier Hospitality House's ministry is a work of the ministry Cadence International. Daniel and I have chosen to partner financially with this great ministry; we really believe in the work they are doing. It has been a joy for us to have such a great house and ministry in our area. We have met great people and taken advantage of the great fellowship at the house every week!

On Friday evening, we took Dale to the SHH and he had a blast! He played games and watched the Disney Channel with the kids at the house. They all enjoyed each other and it was such a joy to see them all getting along.

A few things Dale said when we left was, "I wish I had two boys and two girls. Four kids! That would be fun!" and "I had fun!!"

Saturday, when Daniel asked Dale what he wanted to do, Dale said he wanted to go back to the SHH. So we went to the park to have lunch and Daniel and Dale went out on the kayak.

And then we went to the SHH again and played more board games and enjoyed some good tailgate food and the Auburn football game.

When we got home, Dale was so excited to give us our gifts from Mr. and Mrs. Potter. And Dale was SO jealous of the Batman socks Daniel got!! HAHA! They got me some great flip flops that have great arch support and it is exactly the type of shoe I need after the surgery on my foot! Thank you Mom and Dad Potter :)

Sunday, Daniel had chapel duty so my friend, Whitney, picked Dale and I up for church in the morning :) After church, we went home for lunch, then took Dale to a movie at the theatre on post. Another passion of Dale's is movies :) We got a couple pictures with the Dale at the tanks. He thought it was cool! :)

We saw the new Red 2 movie.

The sky when we walked out of the theatre was incredible!!

Something else Dale enjoys is bowling so we knew we had to take him on Monday. We went to lunch and got ice cream in the middle of a snow cone (sounds weird but is pretty good - it's a popular thing here in Killeen, apparently). Then we were off to bowling!

"Batman, Babydoll, and Buckaroo"

Why so serious?!

Daniel won...

Quick arcade game for the boys!

I know Daniel really enjoyed having his brother here and spending great quality time with him! I also enjoyed getting to know Dale more :) It's crazy to think about the true amount of time I have gotten with Daniel's family. It is not as much as I would like, so to have Dale visit was a great time! We enjoy having visitors and we are looking forward to having more visitors soon! :) Daniel's parents will be here next month!

While Dale was packing up his things, he said over and over "I had a great time with you guys!" and "I wish I could stay longer!" We already talked about his visit next year! :) Such a sweet man with a huge heart! Thank you for visiting us, Dale :) We love you and miss you already!

Popular inquiries pt. 3

So here's another popular question we get...

"What happens on a 'normal day' for ya'll?"

A normal day in the life of the Potter's, here in Texas...hmm.

Let's see...

There's this:

Daniel has PT in the morning but comes home between PT and work for breakfast. And every morning, he loves his eggs, bacon, and biscuits, with extra cold milk :) So, I usually try to have it all ready on the table but I don't always get the timing just right! :/ But, also, to be fair, he doesn't always get home at the exact same time, every morning! ;P

Then there's this:

Daniel comes home for lunch almost every day, which is such a blessing! :)

And there's also lots of this!! ;)

And occasionally, we make trips to the store for groceries...

And Daniel makes it a point to walk near the baby stuff!! "No no. Not for a little while, at least!" ;)

We also take selfies...and yes, I do wear my Victoria's Secret pajamas most of the day and Daniel enjoys making silly faces at himself, in the mirror! :P Just because we're married, doesn't mean we have to grow up...

Some evenings, we like to play a board game together. We play more non-traditional board games...

The tiny little parts for each game are just so cute!! They're my favorite part!

This is Dominion in our living room when we made a tent :) ...again, we don't have to grow up yet. ;)

The games are a lot of fun and require strategy, which I love!

We also like to go to the park that is about 3 miles from our house.

The lake that runs through, has turtles, fish, and snakes.

So typically, we have the day to enjoy time together and make great memories; both fun memories and silly memories! :) I've said it before, and I'll say it again: Living with Daniel is one of the greatest joys! It is more than I could ever ask for. He makes it fun and exciting. Even when it's just a trip to Walmart ;) It doesn't take much to make me laugh but there's something about the way this man makes me laugh!! <3