Anniversary Trip!

Jon and I said from the beginning that we would take a week long vacation to celebrate our first year of marriage together. We wanted to go somewhere fun, warm, and beachy. After a little research and asking around, we settled on Fort Myers, FL.

Friday, March 23 through Saturday, March 24 was Caleb and JoAnna's wedding. After their wedding, we headed to Statesboro, GA and stayed with my brother, Donald. [no pictures to document the stop, but we did, I promise!]. We got up Sunday morning [March 25] and started our long drive down to Fort Myers. We stayed at the Residence Inn Hotel between Fort Myers Beach and Sanibel Island.

March 25 - Our first night in Fort Myers. We decided to head to Fort Myers Beach for a little dinner. 

the best part of the meal. :)

 March 26 - Happy Anniversary! :) We went to Sanibel Island. We walked through an Alligator Habitat [which we realized as we were walking along this path] and spent some time on the beach! Sanibel is really pretty, lots of preserved land. The downer is paying to get on the island and then having to pay for parking! It was still one of my favorite places from the trip. If we ever go back, we'd probably stay on Sanibel.

waiting in line to drive across the bridge

Welcome to our Sanctuary Island. Do Enjoy. Don't Destroy.

the beginning of what seemed like a pretty neat little stroll

Alligator Habitat - Proceed with Caution

Uh? Wait a minute... by habitat do they mean this is where alligators actually live??? And wasn't there a sign at the beginning of the trail that said the same thing!?!

I bet this is where they live!!

baby alligator?? Nope just a lizard.

yes. that sounds like a great idea. let's picnic with the alligators.

another green swamp - I seriously expected to see an alligator come out of this thing.

small lighthouse on Sanibel

carrying the goods

part of the path from the parking lot to the beach

we crossed over this to get to the beach.

finally. bring on the sunshine! :)

Jon trying out the water

year one! haha

this little tray was at a flea market on the island. i was very tempted to purchase!

you're very welcome!

you could park on the causeways to enjoy beach time. lots of fishermen!

Our Anniversary dinner was at Bayfront Bistro on Fort Myers Beach. It was absolutely delicious!!

nice view of the sunset -- oh and that guy.

March 27 - We did a lot of driving on this day. We decided to go visit some of the other beaches in the area. I'm pretty sure we drove all the way down to Naples. It wasn't much of anything, just a lot of ritzy hotels. We drove back up and decided to take a beach stop at Barefoot Beach, and I'm glad we did. We witnessed a guy catching a shark!! It was the craziest thing to watch... a lot of other people thought so, too.

lots of shells!

Jon trying out this water. :)

there is our fisherman!

oh hello big fish... [gulp]

it was probably about 5 to 6 feet long

the crowd by the end of the show

For lunch we ate at a little beach front place on Fort Myers Beach. Yummy crab cake sandwich.

Fort Myers Beach Time Square

We headed back to the hotel, cleaned up, and went to see what downtown Fort Myers was all about!

pretty sunset

the Edison Theatre

March 28 - We rented bikes from our hotel and rode up to little San Carlos Bay about 2 blocks from our hotel. It was an enjoyable little adventure.

fork in the road.. heh

our hotel

they have kayak excursions here

After our little biking adventure, we headed back to Sanibel Island. We really enjoyed the beaches there.

a dolphin! this lady was SO loud and crazy about this dolphin

We drove out to Captiva Island for lunch after we realized I had turned into a lobster. Jon was quite red as well. No more sun needed.

my handwriting upside down looks like a 4 year old

RC Otters for lunch

jon's drawing of us. haha

the water at Captive Island was gorgeous!

March 29 - Here we were on Thursday, sunburned, tired, achy, and feeling like we had experienced majority of what we would like to in the area. So, we decided to check out early and drive up through Florida and stop somewhere halfway. Lucky for us, St. Augustine was just about half way and we love St. Augustine.

bye bye Residence Inn!

First detour was driving through Tampa Bay!

we want to back to Jamaica! Ya Mon!

University of Tampa

Home of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers

potty break at a sketchy McDonalds

Second Detour was Downtown Disney!

Caleb and JoAnna were here. I was really worried that we would see them and be THOSE friends who go the same place as their honeymoon! :)

no idea. my husband is hilarious to me.

inappropriate picture by my husband

crazy Lego statues everywhere!

see ya Minnie!

 And now a third detour driving through Orlando!

and that's all we saw of Orlando. Ha.

Final resting destination for the night was the Hilton in downtown St. Augustine. Um... lucky us! AND there were ants in our room, so we got it at a discounted rate!

 

the ant covered sink

the fridge was in that thing

just an armoire?

nope a t.v. cabinet!

yes. Jon jumped on the bed.

downtown St. Augustine

our room is one of those on the bottom floor

glad to be somewhere familiar

PIZZA! gosh this pizza was so good

gotta have one w/ the lions

and as a lion

Jon's turned out a lot better. haha

he's pretty studly, just sayin'

peeping out of our window into the alley. there was a sweet little balcony porch. :)

March 30 - we woke up to watch the sunrise over the Mantanza Bay. It was such a great start to our morning. We loved being in St. Augustine and ending our trip this way. For those who don't know, Jon grew up going to St. Augustine with his family each year. The tradition is still going and I have had the pleasure of going 4 out of the 5 years we've been dating. :)

Dolphin siting #1

Dolphin siting #2... and closer!

um cute tiny boat with a girl and her dog. i loved this!

our our little patio

nice stay!

bye bye St. Augustine! See ya in July!

We stopped and stayed in Lexington, SC with Jon's family for the weekend. It was great to see them! I also don't have pictures from this stay, but it happened, I promise. ;)

Our week long anniversary get-a-way was such a fun adventure. We loved every moment of it [except maybe the whole turning into lobsters thing...]! Thankful that we had the opportunity to go on a trip like this! We highly recommend some sort of get-a-way for your anniversary. It was great to unwind from our daily hustle and bustle and remember just how much fun it is to be together!

March 26: Anniversary One!

That's right. One year of marriage. Phew. I seriously cannot believe it!

{"Was marriage what you expected?"}

I think that I expected it to be difficult, but the things I thought would be difficult aren't actually the difficult things. For example, I thought two people getting ready in the same bathroom in the mornings would be difficult and frustrating. It's not. We just work around each other and do what we need to do. I thought that we would always disagree about how we wanted our house and what would end up being "our style." Nope, that actually came pretty naturally. I thought that communication was the most important thing and that it would be difficult. It is right that communication is important, but it's not just telling each other stuff... it's HOW you tell each other stuff. And before marriage, I thought the "how" was just about your tone of voice. Nope. It's your body language, your huffs, your puffs, your silence, your non-silence, your timing, your eye contact, etc, etc... it's talking in each other's language even when you have no idea what that even means. It's your willingness to figure it out, to always desire to learn more about the other person. 

{I think a common misconception is that you'll learn each other after a few months or so together and that will be it. I think an even bigger misconception is that you won't have any problems or disagreements because you know each other so well.}

After a year of marriage, I've learned that my relationship with Jon is an ongoing learning adventure meant to be embraced and treated delicately. We both change daily with each experience, each conversation, each walk around the park... and I have to be willing to learn and relearn who Jon is... who he is becoming... who he wants to be.

{The other thing I've learned is that marriage does not solve my desire for companionship.}

Ladies, I know each of you can relate to this one. Guys, I think you can, too, if you're honest. God designed us to have a companion. It is in our inner being. Unfortunately, that desire for companionship has been corrupted [what started at the Fall but what has been continued by the culture we live in]. We feel that another human being can satisfy that longing. Dear friends, it just doesn't work that way.

{Jon and I are married, our covenant secure. We are committed to stay together until death do us part. I have had to consistently remind myself that this fact does not mean that Jon alone can satisfy my every need for... well, anything.}

Jon knows my deepest, darkest secrets, and I know his, but he continuously lets me down and I continuously let him down. God must be in the center of this gig for it to work. I know you have heard that several times before, but I promise, it just doesn't work without Him.

So, here's to a year and many many more to come. I could not have married a better man. I love him and desire to know him fully. I desire to honor and respect him unconditionally. I desire to be his. I am thankful for his drive and his persistence. I am thankful for his determination to be a man fully enthralled in the beauty of our Creator and to always be in tune to the Holy Spirit.

We have a lot of growing up still to do [I blame it on us both being the baby child of our families], but I cannot imagine figuring all of this out with any other person.

March 26, 2011

March 26, 2012

March 24: Caleb and JoAnna!

Watch out everyone. There is a new Sneaky Snead in town. ;)

Jon and I had to absolute pleasure of celebrating the joining of two wonderful friends, Caleb and JoAnna. The wedding festivities began Friday, the 23rd. I revisited my love for decorating and got in tune with my crafty side by helping decorate the church with JoAnna and her mom and putting together a few of the bouquets for the wedding [I love flowers. I do not have a green thumb by any means, but I love flowers. Haha]. Friday night, close friends gathered for the rehearsal and dinner of Pizza and [lots of] Root Beer. Goodness, so good! Saturday morning, we helped decorate their venue for the reception. Saturday afternoon was the wedding! It was such a fun filled weekend and such a joy to be a part of. Unfortunately, weddings tend to come with stress and tension, anxiousness and worry. These two families [Webbs and Sneads] were the most pleasant families to be around! Each time I would think tension would rise, it didn't. Everyone remained calm. It was such a blessing to be shown that the little things don't always have to become big things, and really, what matters in the end is what has eternal value. Let me just say, this is one of those lessons God will always be teaching me! So, thanks to the Webb and Snead families for living that out!

Caleb and JoAnna, we are SO happy for you and very excited that we are close enough to share in this journey with you.

Visit Christine Parks Photography to see JoAnna's stunning bridal portraits.

Visit Brett Seay Photography to see all of the wonderful pictures from the wedding!

Here are some fun ones I snapped of Colson and Joel [JoAnna's nephews] playing... well, really being little Jedis... in the rain!

my favorite!