and they're off...

There is something so fascinating in watching a horse run through the open fields. They run without purpose, wild and strong, yet brilliantly intelligent. I have never personally had a fascination with horses until this past weekend. We had the amazing opportunity to spend the weekend at Donamire Farm in Lexington, Kentucky with our good friends from grad school to celebrate Sarah Gay and James' wedding. Sarah Gay has grown up around horses and chose to have her wedding at the Thoroughbred Club of America. It was absolutely breathtaking. Not only did the location represent her love of horses, the history and charm of the venue meant so much to Sarah Gay and her family that it made it that much more special. It was such a beautiful wedding.

{Sarah Gay and James' first dance}

It was also so wonderful to spend the weekend with my best friends from Charlotte and Nashville. It is always such a great reunion for us to spend the weekend together celebrating one of our friends weddings. When we started our Dinner Club, we talked about when we thought we would get engaged, now just over a year later, three of us are married! It is amazing how quickly life happens!

{Peyton, Lauren, Sarah Gay, Rachel, Holly, Erika at the reception}

I just couldn't resist adding this picture of JK and I at Donamire Farm. We always have such a great time together. I am so thankful to have married such a wonderful guy!

{beautiful Donamire Farm}

 Sarah Gay's Dad gave a very special toast with a quote from Winston Churchhill that said,

"There is no doubt that it is around the family and the home that all the greatest virtues, the most dominating virtues of human society, are created, stregthened and maintained." 

What do you do to strengthen your home and what virtues do you value?

Always Live A Colorful Life!

wedding belles and whistles

As a little girl, we all dream of our wedding day. We practice walking in high heels five sizes too big, wear dress-up clothes and imagine our prince carrying us away in a horse drawn carriage. At some point in our lives, this image fades. We realize we are lucky if our "prince" has a car that is paid for, let alone a horse drawn carriage. The heels we use to stumble in, now leave blisters on our feet. Despite the reality, somewhere in our heart, we still long for this everlasting love the Lord promises us.

I was so very blessed to meet my "prince" five years ago. I do believe the Lord prepares the person he plans for us to spend the rest of our lives with, and if we seek his guidance, we will have the fairytale ending we always desired in our hearts. John and I were engaged last Fall and had our fairytale wedding in May 2012. It was the most magical day we could have ever imagined. I was going for two things:

simple elegance

And I believe we achieved just that at our very Memphis wedding. We celebrated our rehearsal dinner at the famous Rendezvous Restaurant, were married at First Baptist of Memphis and had our reception at the Peabody Hotel. It was the best day of my life, not because the church was beautiful or the food was so delicious, but because all of my family and friends were together to help us celebrate, and of course, I got to marry the love of my life.



With all of the bells and whistles that go into planning a wedding, it is very easy to be consumed with the planning process. I have heard from numerous people you can never know what goes into planning a wedding until you do it yourself. So very true. If you are a bride-to-be and want to save your sanity (and not completely drive your prince crazy) follow these five very simple steps to happy wedding planning.

1. Invite close friends and family

2. Don't be afraid to say "no" if you do not like someone's ideas

3. Organization. Organization. Organization.

4. Hire a wedding planner. Even if its just for the day of the wedding, it will save you many sleepless nights!

5. Relax...in the end, it's only five hours and you will be sailing into the Caribbean before you realize it!

And they lived Happily Ever After...