The Vow

I think it's really important to know our promises we made to each other on our wedding day. A lot of times, the whole day can be a daze and if we don't look back and study the words we promised to one another, they are easy to overlook. Thankfully, I had the order of service saved on my computer so I have the option to look back. So if you're out there and you haven't gotten married yet, make sure to save a copy of your vows, and if you're already married, try and find a way to look at your vows again. Seriously! How important are these words? They are the foundation of our marriage. They are our promises to one another. I want to look at them often so they are real in my heart, mind, and actions.
Our Verse:
Philippians 2:3 Do nothing out of rivalry or conceit, but in humility consider others as more important than yourselves
The Vow:
I, (name), take you, (name), to be my lawfully wedded (husband/wife), my constant friend, my faithful partner and my love from this day forward. In the presence of God, our family and friends, I offer you my solemn vow to be your faithful partner in sickness and in health, in good times and in bad, and in joy as well as in sorrow. I promise to love you unconditionally, to support you in your goals, to honor and respect you, to laugh with you and cry with you, and to cherish you for as long as we both shall live. 
The Rings:
I give you this ring as a symbol of my love and my faith in God's strength to keep us together.  In committing my heart and soul to you, I ask you to wear this ring as a reminder of the vows we have spoken today. 
The Declaration of Marriage: 
Ministering in the name of the Lord Jesus, I now pronounce you husband and wife. May Christ be the Head of your home. May He be the unseen Guest at every meal, the Listener to every conversation. May Christ's love rule your hearts and lives. John Mark, you may kiss the bride.

Breakfast Smoothie

For Valentines Day JM got me a Ninja Professional. I've been wanting one for a while and kept putting it off because of the price. Aside from a few other surprises, I was the most surprised about this. A silly blender brought me nearly to tears because of the thoughtfulness of my husband. He knew how much I've been wanting one and how useful it will be for chopping, blending and mixing. On Valentines he set up the blender and left me fresh fruit and a sweet note because he leaves early for work. For the last week, I've enjoyed creating yummy smoothie concoctions. I went to the store yesterday to get frozen fruit but they didn't carry it. What?! So, I decided buying fresh fruit is just about the same price and I can freeze it myself. I made blackberry ice-cubes and froze cut strawberries in an ice cube tray for each day. I love that I can add anything I want, but this is what I drank this morning. Mmm yummy!

1 Year Anniversary

JM and I have wanted to go to the west coast for a while. We thought about going to San Francisco for our honeymoon, but we decided on a Euro-trip instead [I just realized I never posted about that - fail]. Even though our anniversary is in December, it's easier for us to get out of town after the holidays. So this year for our 1 year anniversary we still wanted to do something special and flew from our little home in northeast North Carolina across-country to the beautiful city of San Francisco! We stayed in the Days Inn in Hayes Valley, very affordable and in a beautiful area. Our favorite restaurant was the Grove in Hayes valley. We ate there on more than one occasion! We rented a car for a few days and it was the best decision we could have made. We traveled up to Napa Valley and on Sunday down to Santa Clara to visit South Bay Church - a church very dear to us that our mentors started a few years ago in the Bay area. It was a blessing to sit down and visit with the people that had a huge impact in our Christian walk. 

We walked most of the city!

Here's our trip in photos. Enjoy!

Paxti's deep dish pizza in Haye's Valley

Redwoods in Muir Woods

Coastline at Muir Beach

The one and only Golden Gate Bridge!

We were too cheap to ride the trolly, so we walked up hill instead!

JM feeling like Achilles after all our walking

 Painted Ladies [Full House]

 Visiting the Exploratorium

 View of Golden Gate from Fort Mason Green

Sourdough bread at Boudin Bakery

Little Italy

 Alamo Square Park

 Birch tree in Golden Gate Park

 The one and only Lombard Street. Of course we drove it!

 The hilly city in the mirror

 Nicholson Ranch Winery

Relaxing at the winery in Sonoma Valley

Bay Bridge near Coit Tower

Veteran's Day

My husband has been in the military for over 5 years now. 

We met before he joined the Coast Guard.

Sometimes I don't realize that I'm a military wife. Currently, JM works quite regular hours and doesn't really talk about work that much at home. I ask him about it, but he doesn't feel it's interesting enough to tell me about. Before we were married, I understood his military life a little better. He used to go on 3 or more patrols a year. Most of our dating life was through emails while he was underway and expensive pay-phone calls. But, for the past 2.5 years he's been at a desk job. Things are about to change for us. We are waiting for our orders to see where we go next. We didn't think we'd stay in for another tour, but with job security, benefits, and JM's school being practically paid for, it's hard to resist. It's exciting and scary all at the same time. One man is responsible for choosing where hundreds of  sailors and their families go next. We are in a season of waiting after a difficult-but-amazing first year of marriage. I'm excited for a location that JM and I can move to together and start everything new. I think it will really change how I feel as a military wife. I think everything will become real to me. Changing work schedules, duty requiring him to stay on base, short deployments.... things will be different but we are looking forward to this new adventure. As for now, I thank my husband for his work and for taking care of us. I thank the many husbands and wives that work in the military around the world. I may not agree with everything they do, but I support the commitment they've made for the safety and protection of their country.

In celebration of Veteran's Day, JM and I went to historic Williamsburg. 

Just One of Those Kind of Days

Source

Today was a day, unusual.
I was warned when I married a Redwine that bad luck comes by that name.
I don't really believe in luck.
Or so I thought.
But I since I married into it, I hoped such "bad luck" would maybe skip me.
NOT!
I should have turned back at getting stranded deep sea fishing 90 miles out in the Atlantic, or when we got stuck in low tide in the middle of a huge storm in a boat we thought would run out of gas in the Tampa Bay, or when the motor wouldn't start and we were stranded on Seabrook's Island beach ... yes these may be all boat stories, but they are just a tip of the iceberg.
But I didn't change my mind! I love the man too much!
There's always a punch to be thrown:
We've slept through tornadoes on top of mountains
and
Fished for years and without catching anything good
and
Tried to leave London to go to Paris because we thought our tickets were booked and had to pay 3x as much
and
Drove three hours to go camping and realized we forgot our tent
and
Went camping in the rain without reservations on Memorial Day weekend and slept on the AT instead
and
Drove all summer without AC because no one could fix it

Really, this all happens on a day to day basis!
Surely we're not the only ones.
It happens to everyone.
Right?
Well today was my day for a series of unfortunate events. No husband, just me.
I went to get my haircut but when I arrived the salon was locked.
My appointment was at 2 but the door said they'd be back at 1.
I thought I was early.
While I waited, a unusual man started a conversation with me.
I didn't want to be rude and I had no were to go.
So we talked.
The problem was that I don't know what he was talking about.
But we talked.
He likes hotdogs, his brother and military friends got him drunk at 16 and he's been sober 5 years.
"When you don't drink, there's no trouble."
Come to find out, my dear hairstylist Lisa and 2 others were in a car accident on their way back from lunch.
Thankfully there are no major injuries.
And we'll reschedule.
On I went to talk to a hiring manager about a job and missed her by 10 minutes.
I was told she was available all day Thursdays.
I went to McDonalds for a Mocha Frappe and realized I forgot the stuff I was going donate.
After going back home to get the stuff, the clutch dropped while driving on the city's main road.
Thankfully I was going fast enough to coast into the median.
And, I had an icey Mocha to sip on.
JM came to my rescue and we waited over an hour for what we were told would be 20 min for AAA.

All that to say, just another day in the neighborhood and as a Mrs. Redwine.
Still, I don't call it bad luck, I call it life!
I wouldn't take any of it back.

Hawke Wedding

Over the weekend JM and I traveled to Georgia to celebrate our friends Kyle and Kahlin's wedding!
What an awesome weekend. 

Great friends. 

Great wedding. 

Great weather!

Kyle made a lot of her wedding decor by hand - including her hair accessory!

It was a beautiful garden wedding on a sunny fall and cloudless day.