Thank God I'm a country girl...

Gosh I feel like so much has happened since our first date night... arts festival, date nights, YoungLife cookouts, road trips, friends from CO, and Laura and Tyler's WEDDING!

Last weekend, Jacob got to spend the weekend in my hometown, Mooreland, Oklahoma! (Go read his blog about this "small town" weekend. He's funny.) We also got to share the weekend with our good friend Jim from Colorado. I tell you, these boys are NOT small town guys, so that made for some fun.

Our first stop along the way was in Richmond, OK. There's some urban legend about a haunted place... I thought it was the church, then I thought it was the school. Well we took a detour to the church anyway. I think the attendance there is 11. It wasn't scary.

After our detour we got to Mooreland about 5:00pm, which was an hour before the wedding rehearsal. I had a great idea... Tour Mooreland for an hour! The whole tour probably only takes 10 minutes, but we made it last about 45. One of our stops was at the football and baseball fields, places I spent lots of time at in high school.

Then I pretended that my husband and I were high school sweethearts and we made out in the dugout. Kidding, we just took a picture.

Next stop was the "Home of the Bearcats." We went to my high school and looked in the windows for a while. Jim then tried to open the doors which were, of course, unlocked. The boys were surprised; I wasn't. I said that if we saw anyone, it would be okay, and I was right. The custodian of 20 years was cleaning away! And she didn't mind us walking around. They were also surprised that from 8th grade until I graduated, I spent all of my schooling in one hallway.

So enough with the small town stuff and on to the AMAZING wedding of Laura and Tyler. The wedding was planned to be an outdoor wedding at the Arney Ranch, but because the forecast showed 52 degrees and rainy for wedding day, we decided (at 10:00pm no less) that it would be better to move the festivities inside. That meant that myself and a dear friend from Boulder went to the Wal-Mart to put together centerpieces. This involved "breaking into" the garden center for flowers, digging through lots of bolts of fabric, and leaving at 1:15am! But it was worth it and the tables were beautiful! Couldn't have done it without each other... Here's to you Lisa!

Even though the wedding was inside, it was beautiful, Laura was beautiful, and at the end of the day Tyler and Laura were husband and wife! Tyler you looked very handsome too. Here are a few pictures of the weekend...

Their last night as Miss and Mr.

Me. Miss Arney. Krista.

From the first date to "old married couples"

Me and one of my very best.

JIMBO!

We're still newlyweds... 5 months and counting!

The fact that so many things had to change during the weekend (at the last minute nonetheless) didn't really matter in the big picture, because at the end of the day Laura and Tyler got to fulfill the plan of God and become husband and wife. Everything about the weekend reminded me of some verses that have taken over my life the last few weeks. Philippians 4:4-8... It begins by saying "Rejoice in the Lord always. I say it again, rejoice!" The rest goes on to say (paraphrase of course) don't be anxious but trust in the Lord and He will bring you peace. Even though there were many times during the weekend that were overwhelming and unpredictable, there was ALWAYS a reason to rejoice. One small reminder was the beauty of the covenant of marriage. Rejoice in the Lord ALWAYS!

Congrats Tyler and Laura Winstone!

That's a nugget. --B