Ten Things I Probably Should Have Blogged... #6

Today’s post is part 6 of a 10-post list of events in our lives that we probably should have blogged about during the past two years.  I’ve enjoyed taking a step back and remembering those moments.  I hope you do too!

6.  Holly - 2/10/2013

My last post was about Christmas 2012, and, little did we know our lives were changing on that very day.  We had talked about getting a puppy for several months, but either the time wasn’t right or we couldn’t find the right dog for us.  On February 10, I was eating lunch with a friend at Panera Bread.  When I left, I checked my phone and I had 3 missed calls from Savva along with several text messages.  They said something to the effect of:

“Steph come home! We have got to go NOW! Puppies!  Come quick!”

“I found the perfect puppy - we have to get her today!”

“Hurry home”

I came home to see photos of some of the cutest Golden Retriever puppies I had ever seen!  

Can you guess which one she is?

They were in Lexington, so we were going to need to travel.  In my head I was thinking, “Softball starts this week, do we really have time for a puppy right now?”  But for some reason, this one felt right.  It was the first time we both thought that, so, on that Sunday afternoon, we jumped in the car and drove to Lexington.

When we got there, I didn’t expect the puppies to be so small!  Jackie, the woman we met, has three golden retrievers who are her family pets and they had had a litter of 11 puppies.  When we got to her house, there were only 5 left.  Two were accounted for, so we got to choose between 3.  How do you choose between three of the cutest doggies in the world?!?!?  I could’ve taken them all three right then and there.

After we played for a while with them, we had to choose.  We were able to narrow it down to two rather quickly because one of them just didn’t seem to respond as well to us.  But choosing from two was nearly impossible!  Jackie eventually picked the last two up and we went outside of the pin. She held them up in front of me.  Savva was leaving the final decision up to me.  

I looked at them both so closely - it’s hard to pick out flaws or say you like one more than the other.  But there was one who just seemed to have these beautiful eyes that were a little more lively when they looked at me.  This particular one also held her paws in the cutest way when you held her up.  They were just tucked in front like a person does when they do a “bunny hop.”  We took her home that day, and named her Holly.  She was born on Christmas Day 2012 - the day Savva and I celebrated our first Christmas together.

The first picture of many!

Introducing her to her new home.

 Never in my wildest dreams did I expect us to love a dog so much.  We always made fun of people who were obsessed with their dogs (sorry to all of you when we didn’t take you seriously!), but we are ridiculously obsessed!  It’s bad.  If you’ve been around us at all over the past 9 months you know this is true.  But she really is sweet and has been the perfect addition to our little family!

If you know us well, you know we take pictures of Holly as much as - if not more than - first time parents! Here are just a few (ok, several) of our favorites!

Whenever she does this, Ryan says she's "broken" because she just stays like "stuck" on her back for several minutes at a time!

Ten Things I Probably Should Have Blogged... #5

Today’s post is part 5 of a 10-post list of events in our lives that we probably should have blogged about during the past two years.  I’ve enjoyed taking a step back and remembering those moments.  I hope you do too!

5.  First Christmas - 2012

I.  Love.  Christmas.

I love everything about it.  I love the meaning of Christmas.  I love the decorations.  I love the traditions.  I love the smells.  And the lights.  And the magic.  Christmas is so magical to me.  It’s beautiful.

I was beyond excited about our first Christmas together.  However, there were some parts of me that were sad.  Like I said, I LOVE Christmas traditions.  Traditions sometimes change, and new traditions are born.  That was something I was mentally and emotionally preparing myself for last year.

It was the first Christmas that I did not wake up at my parents’ house on Christmas morning.  It was the first time I was missing the candlelight service at church with my family.  It was the first time I wasn’t eating Christmas breakfast with my family.  You see, breakfast alone was one of my two top favorite traditions of Christmas.

New traditions can be exciting too, and I could not have been more excited about starting new traditions with my new husband in our new house.

I don’t think Savva knew what to expect when we started decorating for Christmas.  He had to keep reminding me that this is our first Christmas and it’s ok to start small and grow as we grow throughout the years.  But I wanted Christmas to be absolutely perfect.  Does perfect mean going out and buying expensive decorations and whatnot to fill the house?  NO!  But it does mean that I put a lot of thought into creating our own Christmas Wonderland in our house.  We loved it so much we left our decorations up until the middle of January.

Top 3 Things About Christmas 2012:

1.  Our tree:  We went to a family’s house where they also grow Christmas trees here in Boone.  They live not even 5 minutes from us and were genuinely some of the most kind people I have ever met.  We spent such a long time looking for the perfect tree for our new house, and when we found it, they let Savva cut it down and helped him tote it to our truck.  When we went to pay, we found out that an older couple had already bought our tree for us.  They heard us saying it was our first Christmas as a married couple and they wanted to make it extra special.  They did.  It was such a sweet act of generosity that I will never forget.  I will never know who bought our tree that year, but I am so very thankful that they took the time to be a part of such a special moment in our lives.

 

2.  Our Advent Calendar:  Growing up, we always had a countdown until Christmas with our advent calendars.  It was something I was missing this year since I wasn’t home, and so I made one for us.  The one I created had miniature stockings hanging up our railing with numbers that I painted on them.  Inside each stocking was an activity for Savva and me to do together to celebrate the coming of Christmas.  Although we did not get to complete each one that year, it was still fun to open them each day and try to do them.  I have already been brainstorming the ones for this year!

3.  Christmas Eve/Day Family Time:  I was a little bummed about missing our Christmas Eve service in Durham, but I was very excited about spending Christmas Eve with Savva’s family.  It was a hard Christmas for them since his grandfather passed away in August, but we were able to be together and give lots of hugs throughout the night.  Somehow, traditions between my family and Savva’s family fit beautifully together.  

- We did Christmas Eve with his family and then went back home to stay at our house.  It’s very important for Savva and me to be at our house with our children on Christmas morning, and so we wanted to go ahead and start that tradition now.  It was so much fun waking up on Christmas morning and seeing what Santa brought!  He somehow knew that our stockings were now here in Boone :)  

- It was so nice to have a little quiet time just the two of us opening our gifts from each other and enjoying a beautiful Christmas morning.  After we exchanged gifts, we went to Savva’s parents’ (across town) for breakfast and to open gifts with them.  It was so nice to see them on Christmas morning.  

- After breakfast, we said our goodbyes and headed to Durham.  We were there for lunch with my parents, Jay, McKenzie, Ryan, and Mema.  This was usually our breakfast crowd, but we shifted it to lunchtime so Jay, McKenzie, Savva, and I could travel.  

- For dinner, we met at Mema’s house with Uncle Eddie, Aunt Teresa, Melanie, and Steven for dinner and gifts.  

We could not have been more thrilled that our new traditions worked out the way they did.  Of the four grandkids on Mom’s side of the family, 3 of us had gotten married in 2012.  We were all nervous about how this would change things as we adjusted to sharing holidays.  It was amazing that it all worked out for us to be together!  We were so thankful for that.

Here are some more photos of our house decorated for Christmas:

 

Our tree before decorating it!

I promise our lights really weren't blue - it's just the way the camera was picking up the lights!  You can also see in this picture the beautiful nativity scene we got as a wedding gift and the mistletoe hanging from the loft.  I also made the things hanging in the shadowboxes with ribbon, pine cones, and some pieces from our tree.  Then I found almost the same things at Michaels, so I might be buying them this year instead!

Our stockings!

These are the doors to our pantry in the kitchen.  Jay and McKenzie's Christmas card was the first we received, but the ribbons quickly filled with cards from family and friends!

Savva's mother gave this Christmas Mickey to us.  When Savva was little, she said he used to dance in front of it as it played Christmas tunes!

The beautiful Christmas quilt Mema gave us!

It's blurry, but these are the PJ pants we wore on Christmas morning when we opened Christmas gifts!

As for Christmas 2013, I have already been listening to Christmas music for the past two weeks, and last weekend Erin and I spent a lot of time in pajamas watching Christmas movies! I actually am watching a Christmas movie as I'm typing this. I'm so excited! Christmas music makes an appearance in my life throughout the year, and it always makes me so giddy and happy.  It’s great therapy for me when I’m having a rough day!  Is it too early to start decorating???

Ten Things I Probably Should Have Blogged... #4

Today’s post is part 4 of a 10-post list of events in our lives that we probably should have blogged about during the past two years.  I’ve enjoyed taking a step back and remembering those moments.  I hope you do too!

4.  Honeymoonin' Jamaica Style!

Wahoo! We are thankful that we didn’t leave for our honeymoon until the Monday after the wedding because it gave us a chance to 1) have the brunch at our house the day after the wedding, 2) take our time packing (because of course I wasn’t packed until Sunday afternoon), and 3) enjoy a quiet night at my parents’ house before they took us to the airport Monday morning.  Plus we got to drive Daddy’s Superbee all the way to Durham!

We took our Mad Libs from the wedding on the plane with us to read during flight, and we laughed (probably way too loudly) at them!  Our plane flight had 25 couples headed to Jamaica for their honeymoon!  It just so happened that one of the new husbands was a wrestler for Minnesota - he and Savva knew each other and chatted away.  The couple we sat beside also had a wrestler for a husband.  It turned out that they were staying at our same resort!  We spent a lot of time with them during the trip:

Jamaica was incredible.  We stayed at Secrets St. James in Montego Bay.  Immediately we felt comfortable there and the staff was so nice.  We spent the first night just exploring and learning our way around the place.  We loved the restaurants - especially the French restaurant called Bordeaux:

We also enjoyed hanging out at the piano bar and singing music there all night!  There was a karaoke contest one night that I almost entered, but ended up deciding not to.  We also had nightly entertainment that included steel drum bands, a circus, a beach party, and a talent show.  

During the days there were always events going on, but we could come and go as we pleased.  Some days we just layed around on the beach or swam, while other days you might catch us doing any/all of the following:

- racing hermit crabs

- trying to talk like a Jamaican

- competing in the Pool Olympics

- watching the celebrations for the Jamaica Olympic team (we were there during Opening Ceremonies for the 2012 Olympics)...which, may I just say, I absolutely LOVED the pride these people have for their country- ALL of them!

- sailing

- snorkeling

- trying to hold our breath under water (I always won)

- playing life sized Connect Four (I always won)

- playing ping pong (I won the whole resort tournament!  I have to give Savva credit though, he knocked out this crazy Russian guy in the quarterfinals who was really really mad about losing)

- pretending to dance like a Jamaican (please imagine Savva doing this, it was great)

- reading (Stephanie)

- gambling at the casino (Savva)

- searching for star fish

- watching the sunset

- eating 1000 ice cream cones at the soft serve ice cream place

- watching the poor Brazilian girl try to learn to wind surf (her husband literally paid for lessons for like 4 days and she still could barely do it)

- accidentally walking up on a couple “celebrating” their 25th anniversary...and by celebrating, I mean loudly...in the water...next to the beach I was walking on.

Here are just a few pictures from our trip:

If you want to check out more pictures and videos, check out my album on my Facebook Page. 

It was so much fun, I really can’t say enough.  I can’t wait to go back!

Oh, did I mention the Jamaican airport plays “Cool Runnings” on repeat throughout the whole airport? Ya ‘mon!

Ten Things I Probably Should Have Blogged... #3

Today’s post is part 3 of a 10-post list of events in our lives that we probably should have blogged about during the past two years.  I’ve enjoyed taking a step back and remembering those moments.  I hope you do too!

3.  Getting Married - 7/21/2012

Is there even a way to begin this post?  Our wedding day was incredible.  We are so blessed with family and friends who love us and care for us.  They bent over backwards to help make the day perfect for us.  If you know me, you know that I always get things done, just maybe not in a timely manner.  I work well under pressure, and, against my good intentions, usually end up doing things at the last minute.  This explains why I was still up at 3:30am the morning of our wedding day, laying in bed with my best friend, Erin, working on last minute details of the wedding.  WHO DOES THAT?!?!?!  When Erin got married, she was finished with all her stuff so early that she spent the last week relaxing by the pool!

All of my bridesmaids spent the night with me the night before - it was so nice to spend some time with them during the busy weekend.  On Sunday after the wedding, we had a brunch at our house with several of our family members and friends there to spend some time with!  Those were special times for us to get to really spend time with the people we love.

The ceremony was beautiful (of course, I am biased!).  I remember as we were walking up the steps to the sanctuary, I started to get very quiet, almost “zoned out” - not nervous - just anxious to get going.  Some of the girls were asking me if I was ok, but Erin reassured them that this is how I prepare for things - mainly for softball games when I was an athlete.  I think it was just a way of focusing and thinking through what I needed to do and visualizing how things would go.  I didn’t even realize I was doing it, but once Erin mentioned it, that’s the exact emotion I was feeling!  I found out later that Savva was feeling the same emotions he would feel before a match.  I guess that’s what happens when you have two athletes getting hitched!

The bridesmaids went down the aisle and the flower girls too, and then two of my closest friends, Tracy and Brooke, closed the sanctuary doors.  My turn was next.  I asked them to hold the doors closed just a second - I wanted to take in that moment, or breathe, or say something to Daddy, or something!  They just smiled and opened the doors - whatever breathe I had or was trying to take was gone.  There I saw my groom, my best friends, my family, and all those people who have supported and encouraged us both throughout our lives.  It was incredible, such a blur.  I wish I could’ve taken 10 minutes to walk down that aisle and just take in each and every single person who was standing there watching me.  And then there was Savva.  Is this a good time to say that I have one HANDSOME husband?!?!  Man, he sure looked sharp at the end of the aisle!  

And he was only watching me.

Wow.  How many girls dream of this?  When I imagined my wedding, I could see everything in detail until the groom’s face.  It was just like a black circle where a face was supposed to go.  And in that moment, as I walked down the aisle laughing and smiling with my dad, that black circle of a face filled with the face of my best friend.

And he was only watching me.

I could recount each detail of the day, but photographs from photographer, our incredible, outstanding, fabulous, phenomenal, fun, beautiful, creative, amazing - ok, there really aren’t enough words to describe her - Julia Wade can tell the story much better than my words.  I have become a little obsessed with her blog every since I met her! Enjoy!

http://www.julia-wade.com/blog/2012/08/savva-stephs-wedding/

 

Ten Things I Probably Should Have Blogged… #2

Today’s post is part 2 of a 10-post list of events in our lives that we probably should have blogged about during the past two years.  I’ve enjoyed taking a step back and remembering those moments.  I hope you do too!

2.  Savva Graduating from ASU - May, 2012

As I’ve said before, I could not be more proud of my husband and his accomplishments in every facet of his life.  He has worked so hard to earn the things he has, and it’s quite amazing to watch.

We got engaged during his senior year of college, so this is what his life looked like during that time:

- working to earn his college degree

- working hard in his last season of college wrestling

- helping his brother in his own wrestling career

- building our house

- setting up our downstairs as a rental property

- helping plan our wedding

- dealing with me teaching

- dealing with me coaching

- dealing with me in graduate school

- dealing with me working on the wedding

- dealing with my crazy imagination when it came to building the house

- dealing with me, period!

I can be a hard person to be around sometimes.  My imagination runs wild and I get these grand ideas of what could happen, but I have a hard time making them happen.  That’s why Savva is so great - he has a knack for making those dreams into reality.  But that’s not to say it’s not frustrating along the way sometimes!  He had incredible patience with me during that year.

In May 2012, he accomplished a huge goal in his life - to earn a college diploma while competing all four years in wrestling!  Savva graduated with a degree in Construction Management with a minor in Business.  He was awarded as an Academic All-American as an NCAA student-athlete.  That doesn’t happen to everyone (it certainly didn’t happen for me).  He was later awarded with a Scholar Athlete Ring from ASU which is a great honor as well. I could not be more proud of him!

Learning to live in the real world and without wrestling in the forefront of his everyday routine has been quite a change, but one thing that hasn’t changed is his work ethic and passion for the things he loves.

I know it’s kind of overdue, but congrats to Savva for being just plain awesome :)  Love you!

I had to include this first photograph because I love how he is such a positive role model to younger wrestlers!

Graduation Day!

Socon Champions!

Seniors #1 in the Socon!

Being awarded their Socon Championship rings during the football game.

Wish I had a ring like that!

Made it on the all-time wins list!  As his wife, am I allowed to brag and say I think he could have gotten higher on this list if he didn't have appendicitis junior year and broken ribs senior year?  To make this prestigious list is pretty awesome though!!

Scholar Athlete Ring

Miss these boys and their sweet wives!!

Serious bling.

We have matching Scholar Athlete Rings now!