Introducing Raja

A few weeks ago, John and I took a trip to our local Animal Shelter to adopt a kitten.  John spotted "the one" immediately.  I had always wanted an orange colored cat and John went straight to a beautifully colored calico kitten.  We spent some one-on-one time with her and loved her sweet personality and her extremely loud purring (seriously, she purrs very loudly!).  Needless to say, we adopted her on the spot and were able to pick her up a few days later.  We named her Raja, after the tiger in the Disney movie, Aladdin.  She transitioned wonderfully!  She explored the house all day and slept under our bed that night.  She loves "helping" Daddy work on Fridays by sleeping in his lap all day.  She loves jumping and cuddling, and even likes sliding on our tile floor.  We now now understand the saying "curiosity killed the cat" because there is no place in our house that Raja hasn't explored.

Checking out the new bed / Relaxing after a busy day of sleeping / Watching TV / Helping Mommy read / Sitting in my favorite chair

Adopt a pet today!  Animals rely on people, that's us!, for food and shelter.  Many pets are currently living in abusive homes and seek a loving family.  The ASPCA was the first humane organization in the Western Hemisphere. Our mission, as stated by our founder, Henry Bergh, in 1866, is “to provide effective means for the prevention of cruelty to animals throughout the United States” (credit:  ASPCA website).  Visit your local SPCA today!  If you live in Orange County, the Animal Shelters are running a special right now for adoptions.  With any adoption, you will received two tickets to both Sea World tickets and  WonderWorks!  I'm not sure how long it lasts, so check it out soon!

Wedding Pictures Coming Soon!

Our wedding photographer is seriously an amazing lady, inside and out.  Katie Crabb and I met in college through UCF's Campus Crusade for Christ.  Back then, we were giggly college students working on campus (actually in the same building) and wondering where life would lead us after college.  Katie worked for Disney as a photographer for a bit, which was just one more thing we had in common - being Disney fans!  Recently, she took a huge leap of faith and started working full time at her photography business and she has not stopped snapping pictures since.  If you live in the Central Florida area, I HIGHLY recommend her!  She has some serious skills and is a wonderful woman of Christ!

Here's a sneak peek at some of her awesome photography skills on our wedding day:

Check out her blog daily to see more of our wedding pictures.  They'll be up soon!

A Little of Disney, a Little of Canada: the Beginning of an Adventure

Our honeymoon was wonderful!  Seriously, amazing.  I highly recommend getting away, and I mean away, for your honeymoon.  It is a great way to start your life together, exploring new things with each other.  We started out at Walt Disney's Wilderness Lodge.  As we were leaving for Canada the next day, the Wilderness Lodge was a great choice.  The resort is super rustic with American West and American Indian influences.  There are even totem poles in the lobby and huge grizzly bears poking around corners.  When we arrived, we were given "Just Married" pins that we wore throughout the honeymoon and received "awwww's!" everywhere we went :)

On Sunday, we left over 100 degree heat in Florida to go to Vancouver, Canada where the weather was a wonderful 70 degrees.  What a welcome change!  We stayed at the Holiday Inn in downtown Vancouver and explored what felt like the entire city.  On Monday, we started out at the Vancouver Lookout that offers 360 degree views of the city.  It was amazing!  You could see both the city and the surrounding untouched countryside for miles.  We saw the Olympic torch, many, many prop planes coming in and out, and read all about the history of famous city landmarks.  We even came back later that night to get a night view of the city.  Beautiful!

The rest of the day was spent exploring Stanley Park.  We walked almost the entire way around the park (6 miles!) along the seawall and cut through a few of the many nature trails on the way back.  There were totem poles, bikers, beautiful local flowers and gardens, cute restaurants (we ate at the Mill Marine Bistro) and statues of local legends and relics along the way.  It was very relaxing and a great way to explore Vancouver first-hand!

The Big Day :)

Our wedding day was truly fantastic!  We had such a great time with family and friends.  There were a lot of festivities the day before, a lot of family and friends arriving from out of town, and then of course the big day!  The best thing of all was that our wedding was a family affair.  Our parents, grandparents, and siblings, aunts, uncles, cousins and nephew made the day amazing.  We chose family and close friends to serve as attendants, scripture readers, greeters, and more.  It made the wedding day that much more special.  And the best part is we get to see even more family and friends in Connecticut for another wedding reception!  We cannot wait for September 30!

Here’s a snippet of the wedding festivities and wedding day!

The Moms, Grandmothers and I at the Bridesmaid's Luncheon / John and I at the Rehearsal Dinner / John, Kevin and Teddy at the Rehearsal / The Wedding Cake / My Mom putting on my veil / The Dads before the ceremony / John and our nephew Jacob at the church / Leaving for the honeymoon!

Welcome!!

Welcome to our blog!  We are so excited to share life's journey with you as we begin our life together :)

John and I were married on August 6 and we can't believe we've already been married for a month!  So far the first month was very eventful!  We have already been to Vancouver and Alaska, bought a house, moved into our house, and have welcomed a new member to our family:  our new kitten Raja!

We are so thankful for our amazing family and friends who have loved and supported us.  You are awesome and we are truly blessed!