Our first year

Preface - I know this blog is about 2 weeks late, but with the craziness and busyness of our life, I'm ok with being 2 weeks late. You'll still enjoy it all the same! :)

I can't believe we already have been married one year. It has gone by so fast and I have enjoyed every minute of it. On April 28, 2007, I became Mrs. Randy Harrelson. Wow! All my life I've only been known as Rachel Marie Dugger, now I was Rachel Marie Harrelson. Much more changed than just my name.

This past year I have learned so much about myself and about life as a whole. Living with another human who you committed your life to forever is different than just living with a roommate. I can't just not see him when I am frustrated with him - he lives here too! He has to adjust to living with a girl who forgets to put up the curling iron and hair dryer in the mornings, and who sheds - alot. We have had to learn how to do life together on a whole new level. Arguments have to be talked out (not always right away) and frustrations have to be voiced. We can't keep stuff bottled up inside us because it always eventually comes out - and sometimes that isn't pretty.

Joys and victories are shared and something about sharing them makes them that much more special. He is my encourager and I get to be his cheerleader. I've had to learn to let go of the little stuff and look beyond the annoyances, to the man I get to be married to. The man who loves to be silly and knows how to have fun. The man who can't seem to remember to put his dishes in the dishwasher, but always greets me with a hug and a kiss when I get home from work. The man who will go get milk for us at 11 o'clock at night even though he has to get up at 5:30 the next morning for work.

It's funny how much things have changed in just a year. When we first were married, I could hardly sleep for his snoring/breathing, but now when he is gone overnight for clinicals - I just don't sleep as well. We still have our moments of frustration, but I think we are learning how to communicate better and to think about the other person first. We're not perfect, believe me. And we have a long way to go, but God is good. He promised that he would carry this good work on to completion and that is exactly what he is doing.

So as we start our second year as husband and wife, I love you Randy! I can't wait to see what this year holds for us. It has been and is such an honor to be your wife and best friend. I love you (more than you know).

1 year and counting.....

So here is a slide show to celebrate our 1 year anniversary. I am going to write a post about our first year of marriage, but first wanted to let you have a flashback of our wedding day. Enjoy!

Story of 2 Miracles

If you aren't already following their story, go check out Confessions of a CF Husband and the amazing journey Nate, Tricia, and Gwyneth are on. I've been following their blog since Gwyneth was born and am amazed by God with every new post. Tricia has CF and needed a double lung transplant. Then her and her husband Nate found out she was pregnant. Against all odds, Gwyneth was born on January 8, 2008. Tricia also received a double lung transplant on April 2, 2008. Now Tricia is "home" and they are waiting to take little Gwyneth home. Go visit their blog and see what miracles God has done in their lives. You can't miss them!

My 2nd Birthday Celebration/Surprise

You know something is important when you celebrate it twice and it is just as fun the second time. Today I was expecting to celebrate my birthday with my parents since they weren't able to come down last weekend. Well, I ended up being surprised with a Surprise party made up of my parents, my little brother, Randy and friends, April D., Courtney F., Jacob & Laura, and Grant, Sarah, Rhett & Hudson. Wow! How fun! And I was surprised. It was a great ending to a wonderful birthday week.

Randy & I are so blessed to have such loving family and friends. To sit and watch our close friends visit with my parents and brother and really want to get to know them is incredible. Thank you Randy & Mom for planning such a great lunch party. I really appreciate you thinking so much of my 25th birthday to plan a party with our friends. Love you!

Surprise!

Me & My parents :)

Almost the whole group - sorry we left you out Sarah!

I needed a little help - thanks Rhett!

Me & My wonderful Hubby

Randy just had to feed cake to me like at our wedding!

Daniel and April - aren't they cute?!

New Look

So you may have noticed the changes in the look of our blog. I found this cool site, scrapblog.com, through another blog and thought, I should try this out. I've seen so many cool and fun blog headers and never knew how to get my own. Until now. And so I did what anyone would do, I emailed my fellow blogger/friend/creative person and shared it with her. She in turn created a really cool header for her blog and posted about it. Why didn't I think of that? :) Anyways, now when I visit her favorite blogs I see fun, creative, snazzy headers on several of them. So if it worked for her to inspire some creativity, here goes nothing. I'm challenging my blog readers (all five of you) to do some spring blog cleaning and updating. See what you can come up with. You might be surprised!

#25

So yesterday I turned 25 - yes, that is one quarter of a century (people keep reminding me of that). I had a wonderful day and weekend, and get to celebrate again this coming weekend!

I woke up to my hubby singing his version of Happy Birthday and then French Toast that he made for me. Thank you Randy! Then it was off to work, where my cube was decorated by my fun co-workers. Sadly, I forgot to take a picture of it, but let's just say I had to almost crawl out of my cube any time I needed to get something. :) My parents and brother surprised me with a beautiful flower arrangement of yellow daisies and roses. Daisies are my favorites (along with tulips)!





Laura (co-worker) took me to Olive Garden for lunch for some yummy soup and salad. Then back to work for the afternoon. I got home and Randy was so antsy for me to open my gift. So I did and guess what? He got me a cool, flexible tripod for our camera! It is like a Gorillapod, but a different brand and made for heavier cameras. I am so excited to get to use it on our next trip. Currently it is wrapped around Randy's bike, holding my camera. Silly boys!

Randy, Sonia, and Bruce took me to Outback for my birthday dinner. The steak was wonderful and I got a cool chocolate ice cream dessert because it was my birthday. And no, I didn't have to sing or dance for it. :) Although Randy tried really hard to make me believe I had to...lol!


My gift


Sonia & Bruce


Love this pic minus the glare from the blinds.


That's better.

My birthday was a very blessed day. I got so many calls, emails, and messages from family and friends wishing me a happy birthday. I am very blessed. Can't wait to see what happens in the coming year!

Prayer Please!

UPDATE: We saw Alexis and her parents last night at church. She is doing so good! Her hand is all bandaged up, but she seems to be fine. She was playing with the other kids and being Lexi! Her mom said they go back on Monday to see if the blood supply is still getting to the tip of her finger. If not, they will have to do another surgery to help it heal. All in all, she is doing great for a 2 year old! Thanks for your prayers!

I just got an email this morning from a friend of ours from church. Her little girl had the tip of her finger cut off in an accident last night. They were able to reattach it, but will have to wait until tomorrow to see if it will start to heal on its own, or if she will need a second surgery. Alexis is 2 and was "helping" her grandpa outside when the accident happened. Please be praying for Alexis, her parents - Brian & Kim, and her grandpa. Pray that her finger will start to heal and she won't need the second surgery. Pray also for her grandpa and parents. Thanks!