Three Years | Q&A

Three years ago today, the hubs and I tied the knot!

THREE YEARS. It's totally cliche to say, but literally I don't know where the time has gone.

It's been really fun at times, really freaking hard at times, and even too good to be true at times.

We've been really strong, not our best, weak, really happy, romantic, and even really tired.

But through it all, we still stand strong in the vows that we promised.

And I wouldn't want to be doing life with anybody else.

So to celebrate three years of marriage today, I thought it be super fun to reflect on our wedding and marriage with a little Q&A session between me and my groom!

(I promise, Cody's answers are indeed legit - he's kinda cray, but I kinda love it.)

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Were you the bride or groom – stating for reader purposes. :P

Cody: On that day? Greeter. (But for real) I think I was the groom.

Lauren: The bride, obvi. :)

How many years have y’all been married now?

Cody: Three.

Lauren: Three! Somedays I think it’s been thirty though. Depending upon how much he gets on my nerves that day. Just kidding – love ya!

 If you could describe your spouse in three words, what would they be?

Cody: Determined. Caring. Perfectionist.

Lauren: Family-oriented. Protector. Goofy.

Describe our wedding day.

Cody: Well, I woke up at 7:30. Got out of bed. Took a shower. Brushed my teeth. Chucked the deuces to mom and dad. Spent three hours getting the jeep detailed. Raced back home like Jimmie Johnson at Dover. Got my suit. Got my brother, my best man. And we skedaddled to Cleveland. Arrived about 2:30. Oh, wait I stopped and got gas on the way up there. No, I stopped and got has on my home from getting it washed. Settled into our cute – what do you call that – hole in a wall of a dressing room. Waiting for the rest of the groomsmen to show up. Talked about whiskey and women. Got dressed. Had pictures. It rained. Took some candid pictures with family. Exchanged notes. Did I say it started to rain? Lined up in formation like a junior ROCT. Made my one mile hike to alter, and waited for my Priscilla. We got hitched and danced the night away. Next question.

Lauren: It was a BLUR. I remember feeling the most beautiful I have ever felt. I felt so much love getting ready surrounded by my friends and family. It rained right before the ceremony, but it was a complete miracle how everything dried so quickly and perfectly. I was so nervous before getting in the car to drive down to the ceremony site, but I said a prayer to myself and felt the nerves drift away. The ceremony was beautiful. The reception was stunning – I remember feeling so blessed and loved seeing how many people showed up to support our marriage. We danced and danced and danced some more – and it was probably the most fun I’ve ever had. Our day could not have been more perfect!

What is your favorite trip we’ve taken as a married couple?

Cody: GREEEEEEEN-vegas. (aka. Greenville) Our first trip taken since we’ve had Harper. We had fun together. But I think you just went for the Starbucks.

Lauren: Our honeymoon! I loved being newly married and adventurous with you. :)

What has been the best moment in our marriage so far?

Cody: Obviously, Harper. The birth of Harper.

Lauren: Harper! Finding out we were having a baby, finding out she was a GIRL, and the day she was born.

What has been the high point and low point in our relationship over the last year?

Cody: Probably just watching Harper grow into her own person is the high point. Low point would be learning how to be devoted parents while staying devoted to the marriage. Learning how to be parents, and not forgetting there was a marriage before Harper.

Lauren: High point has been our Wednesday dates on common days off – reconnecting and remembering who we are as a couple outside of parenting. And low point has been trying to work together through the difficult times of parenting – like Harper being so sick through November-January. And her being in the hospital. Stress makes it really hard sometimes.

What gets on your nerves about your spouse (be kinda nice!)?

Cody: (Answering with really skeptical face) One simple word: Pictures. The dadgum pictures. Nobody’s life should be that documented. We’re not going in a history book.

Lauren: His facial hair clippings around the sink. And his ability to sleep through anything – literally EVERY.THING. Or maybe the ability to fake sleeping through everything, I haven’t fully decided yet.

What is your spouse’s BEST quality?

Cody: (Literally, plays jeopardy music on his phone) (Literally.) Your best quality… One of your best qualities, that I sometimes don’t like is that you always try to make everybody happy. You're bubbly and have a love for life. You’re fun and have become more of yourself publicly and it’s a breath of fresh air. But my favorite quality about you is that you love me for me, you accept my bad. You keep me grounded. If it wasn’t for your perfectionist mentality, I don’t know where we would be.

Lauren: He puts his family first and loves Harper and I more than anything in the entire world. He’s not afraid to tell that to people or show his affection. He’s hardworking, and when he puts his mind to something, he almost always succeeds. He’s the BEST dad in the world. He makes us laugh constantly, and he might not admit it, but he’s pretty romantic when he wants to be. :)

What are your goals for our next year of marriage?

Cody: Stay married. Not let anything get us down. Continue to work on ourselves, our marriage, our parenting skills, continuing to work together, continue to uphold what a marriage is supposed to be. Love with occasional farts in the sheets at night.

Lauren: Continue dating each other. To grow as individuals so we can grow stronger in our marriage and faith. To love the heck out of each other and Harper. 

And more pictures because well, it's our anniversary and I can. :)

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For ALL previous wedding posts click HERE.

Happy Marriage Makes Happy Mama's + Daddy's

We needed this. Like y'all. We NEEDED this.
Not in a terrible way - but in a - we need a break from our everyday to remember and appreciate our relationship - kind of way. It's so easy to get caught up in the routine of just making it through the week with two working parents and a baby that needs lots and lots of love, attention, and puffs. Our little girl is the bright spot in our every day, and we both wouldn't trade being her parents even for a second. But in the midst of all the everyday chaos, we were starting to forget that we loved each other first. And our relationship needs to be taken care of, too.

We took a little 24-hour trip to Greenville, South Carolina - both unfamiliar with the city. Surprisingly, this sweet little southern town is only an hour and half away from where we live - which means our little crew of three will probably be making more visits. We just loved it. 
I wish I would have taken more pictures, but it was important for me to live in the moment and not behind my camera lens - or my phone as Cody would rather me say. :) We got there around lunch time and were told to stop into the Carolina Ale House. The perfect spot for an afternoon of food and college football. 

After lunch, we strolled around Main Street - heading down to Falls Park eventually. It was a beautiful day, with lots of people, but so worth the walk. We shopped through some of the stores, even picking up a little gift for Harper. And eventually headed back to the hotel to check in and pick up a little of the Georgia game before our dinner at Sassafras that evening.

The Dawgs pulling off the upset against Auburn called for some celebration and one on one talk that we needed. :) The food was amazing - steak topped with pimento cheese? - YES PLEASE. Every day if possible. It was that good. After dinner, we strolled around town, eventually stopping for coffee and hot chocolate.

Sunday, we planned on taking one last stroll around town, but the rain put our plans to a halt. We checked out, and decided to head to Clemson to take a little drive through campus. I had never been before, and thought it was such a cute little college town. We even got to walk into the stadium as they were cleaning up from the night before - which was really fun!

We grabbed lunch before heading back - and we both had to fight our way in to see Harper when we got home. We missed our sweet girl! Mimi did such a great job taking care of her! :)
After our short little trip, we came to one conclusion...
A happy marriage makes for happy mama's and daddy's and that's exactly what Harper needs and deserves. :) 

2 Years, 1 Baby Later

Last year on our anniversary, we announced we were expecting a baby. This year on our anniversary, we spent it with our baby. How sweet life really is!

Since our anniversary fell in the middle of the week, we really just wanted to take it easy and celebrate our marriage as a family of three this year. We decided to pick up dinner and take it to the park. We loved celebrating the last two years, Harper loved staring at the trees, it was perfect!