our wedding video

a major thank you to kent mast photo and video for creating our wedding video.

i am so glad we decided to splurge and get a videographer - it was worth it! the number one thing people told me they would have done differently at their wedding was to have a video, so that advice was helpful.

i think he did a great job of capturing us as a couple and i hope you enjoy the video as much as i do. ;)

You'll Find Your Way



I love this song. It put tears in my eyes the first time I heard it, and this morning I played it for Lance only to realize yet again that we do NOT have the same taste in music. "I'm not gonna lie, it sounds exactly like the other songs you were just listening to." Which is funny because that's what I often think when he plays a song he likes for me - they all sound the same and do nothing for me.

This song makes me think of going for drives with my dad. Of all the back roads in Lancaster County, but especially in Holtwood. I love those roads. And somehow that got me thinking about the things we take for granted. How I used to get bored going to Pappy and Grandma's on Sunday afternoons with my dad and brother. Probably because it was routine.

And now I think, 'what I wouldn't give to have more of those ordinary Sundays ...' to get to be around Pappy Shank again and talk to him. I have so much left to ask him. So many stories I wish I could hear from him. To go back to Grandma Shank in a right frame of mind, bustling around the kitchen and making good food, singing and laughing.

To the phone ringing and Bruce loudly speaking what always sounded like jibberish to me, and Grandma responding in a yell-voice to get through to him, listening for a bit then yelling for Benny. And Pappy sitting on that stool cradling the phone, watching TV from the kitchen until finally we'd be sitting down to eat and Pappy would speak his only other words to Bruce (besides hello) - "Bruce! We're eating dinner!" And hang up.

Life is full of ordinary days. Sometimes we grumble or wish them away, but in retrospect they usually end up being the best days. Routine and the little things make life good, but the people around us are what makes life really good.

Sometimes if I'm frustrated or in a chaotic situation I think, "What is wrong with people!" or "I hate people!" But if I'm not completely distressed, I will counter that awful thought by thinking about how much I also LOVE people.

For as terrible as people can be, it is people who can also be almost unbelievably amazing. Through kindness, making you laugh and being there for you. Through completing the ordinary, everyday tasks that the world needs to keep moving. Through accomplishing amazing feats and overcoming unimaginably painful circumstances. People make life worth living. They are the best part of life. Ordinary days and ordinary people, they get inside of you before you even realize it and fill you up.

This song reminds me to take nothing for granted. Whatever kind of day you're having, someday you will probably look back on it as one in a series of ordinary days that you will miss. So don't take the people around you for granted.

What will I remember about these first weeks of marriage? What will I look back on someday as an ordinary that I miss? Well, I actually love when it feels ordinary. I love how natural it feels to live together, and I love when it feels like we have some routines established. It can be frustrating adapting to the Army life, which has no consistency, right down to the hours Lance works.

I am learning to keep my mouth shut when I'm in the passenger seat and Lance is driving - I fail miserably, but I promise I really am trying to pipe down. I am learning about myself and Lance and marriage.

[slightly creepy pictures of us, but we LOVE the mugs you made for us, Heather!]



What ordinary things might I lovingly look back on? Hmm, probably the newness of marriage. Our apartment and how we just have what we need. The basics. No clutter. I hope we always stay like that and don't accumulate excess.

Maybe all of the ridiculous ringtones and alarms Lance has on his new phone. One morning I faintly heard ducks, and since there are ducks that wander around our apartment complex from the lake to the pool and so forth, I didn't think much of it. But the ducks kept getting louder and louder until finally I said, "Lance do you hear those ducks?" Which apparently woke him up enough to realize his alarm was going off - the one he set to the tone of ducks quacking. So glad I knew that. ;-)

I love when Lance kisses me goodbye in the morning when he goes to work. Date nights. How we both get so excited for good food, and making big breakfasts on the weekends. Making fun of Georgia together. Adventures with our GPS. Watching Lance learn new things (like teaching him how to iron and how to make grilled cheese) and find his way around the kitchen when he helps me clean up. I love that it's just us down here, establishing our life together.

"Normal day,
 let me be aware of the treasure you are."

[Mary Jean Irion]

Ranger Ball 2013

 Last night we went to Ranger Ball. This was only the second one I have ever attended but I already feel like a pro. One of the many reasons Lance is awesome is that he enjoys (or at least pretends to) listening to me give my opinion on all of the dresses. I love when he pipes in with his comments too, so good. While we were waiting in line for our official formal photo he would ask, "What do you think of that one? ... Good, cause I think it's awful." I decided we'd be a great talk show team to judge the Oscars, Golden Globes, etc.

Military balls are interesting because from what I've heard and read, you are supposed to dress to represent your man well. With dignity, ya know? But so many of the ladies seem to completely fore-go that tradition in exchange for slutty outfits that are just, well, slutty. Plenty of gorgeous gowns to ooh and ahh over too, but last night it seemed like there were more women who I wanted to cover up with enormous blankets or snuggies, sheesh.

Besides people watching and chatting with the fun people at our table, my favorite part of the night was when all of the Rangers recited the Rangers Creed together at the close of the event. Powerful. And of course I had tears in my eyes for the slide show (set to a sweet country song) of all the fallen Rangers - but that certainly wasn't my favorite part. Too sad.

Truly the most fun part of the evening was being introduced over and over as Lance's wife. Happy, happy, happy.

I told Lance that because everything is different for me right now (new state, new town, new apartment, left my job, etc.) that it almost doesn't feel like we're married. Like when people ask how it feels to be married or how married life is, I'm not sure how to answer. Um, new? It has not completely sunk in yet that we are married. But I like this adventure we're on, cause that's more what it feels like.

I always feel sort of Amish when I get updos. But I haven't had one in awhile and my dress wasn't super fancy so I felt an updo was in order for this occasion. (I posted this goofy, shadowy self-taken shot for you Mom, so you could see my makeup. Didn't really get any good shots of my hair though.)

first impressions of columbus, ga

the south is really different. i like it, but it's weird to me.

when i lived in maui, i felt like i belonged. it was totally different than where i grew up (lancaster, pa) as well, but i could easily get into the rhythm of hawaiian culture and i loved it. i don't know if i can see myself ever quite fitting into southern culture. or maybe it's that i don't want to, because the main difference i've noticed so far is diet. fried food and southern comfort foods are featured in the grocery stores. tons of crisco, grits, and other things i wasn't used to seeing line the aisles of grocery stores in pennsylvania.

i have never seen so many fast food places in such close proximity, and i have no idea why anyone would need this many waffle houses or mcdonalds. yuck.

last week when i asked our waitress about a dish i was considering ordering (caesar salad with thai fried shrimp) she said, "it's fried! it's good!" it made me laugh - as if frying something means it is automatically good. but then i am probably in the minority for not agreeing with that sentiment. i ordered it and it was delicious. so help me God if i start eating like a southerner. eek!

other first impressions of life in columbus, ga ...

- i love our apartment and i love apartment living! we have plenty of space but not too much to clean. it was awesome when my parents came down with our stuff and we could really make it home. we had taken some essentials down with us, but couldn't fit much in my car and forgot a shower curtain so the bathroom was a mess for the first few days we were here.

- lance did an awesome job picking a place and frankly i feel like i'm on vacation sometimes. the weather is perfect this time of year. our apartment complex has awesome pools, a nice fitness center (complete with saunas i won't use and free classes i will use - yesterday i did zumba and was of course the only person in the class, ha.), and a pond with ducks that wander all over the place.

- love being a short drive away from places we go - grocery store, restaurants, crossfit, downtown, and all of my faves in ONE shopping center: barnes & noble, ross, tjmaxx and marshalls. (that's a good shopping center!)

- southerners are generally very polite and well-mannered. i love it.

- people stand on street corners selling newspapers. i feel like i'm back in time.

- store employees walk your groceries out to your car for you. again, i feel like i'm back in time. this was incredibly perplexing for lance and i the first time it happened. so much so that we temporarily forgot where we parked and had the person zigzagging behind us in the parking lot, whoops.

- my first trip to the commissary (the grocery store on the army base) has led me to call it the cuh-misery, or just the misery, instead of pronouncing it correctly. it made me really glad that lance wanted to live OFF base. the store was packed out to the max and people were ramming carts around like it was a freaking nascar race. i felt like i was in a third world country. you could barely get to the shelves to get what you wanted and the line you wait in at the end was so long they had someone directing carts to each checkout. insanity. way too stressful and aggressive of a shopping experience for me, but everything is apparently a wee bit cheaper there. so i guess i'll go back. sigh. publix is practically around the corner from us (and winn-dixie and piggly wiggly, ha.) and i like that much better.

- baptist churches are everywhere. so are goodwill donation centers. and of course fast food GALORE.

- i miss turkey hill milk and ice cream.

- lots of businesses here have ridiculous names that crack us up. i think the most obvious example is the piggly wiggly - how can anyone take that place seriously?!

- southern accents are so great. i was afraid i'd pick up a fake southern accent and it's already sort of happening. sometimes i can't help talking to lance with southern twang. it may have more to do with all the duck dynasty we've been watching, love that show.

- we found a gorgeous park near our house, and i'm excited to keep exploring and finding more gems in this area! i love finding hidden beauty! we drove past development after development, then bam! a beautiful park that stretched out for miles with waterfalls and rocks to climb on and nice trails. it was also unexpected because a recent review of it online said a man had been there with his two daughters and got mugged, and someone else said to never go there because "it's full of homosexuals at night." wow people. the anonymity of the internet is something else, personally i find that the positive reviews of places are usually much more accurate than the negative ones!

lance spotted this stork (maybe heron? we're not bird experts, help us out.) and it was perched on one leg beside the lake so still that we both agreed "it's fake ... but so realistic!" so we were walking down to get right beside it for a funny picture of lance posing by the fake stork, and we were no more than three feet away when it flew off! HA, not fake after all. we could not stop laughing. (if we were written about in old testament style, i feel that phrase would be repeated. "and they walked with God ... and they could not stop laughing.")

 it was so beautiful.we've been having a lot of awesome bird encounters lately. when we drove in my parents lane after our wedding rehearsal, i was exclaiming, "there's a blue jay! oh my word, i've officially turned into my grandma shank, getting excited about birds-" lance: "is that an eagle?!" and sure enough, there was an enormous bald eagle sitting on a branch beside the stream. 

it was the first eagle i ever saw at my parents house. it definitely made a special trip there for us. we sat watching it for awhile until we had to go because we were already late to pick up my friends at the airport. ("sorry guys, just doing some bird watching! totally normal!" ha.) God does so many cool things. ask Him to do something cool for you today or to open your eyes to what He already did for you - i am confident you will love it and He will keep surprising you if you let Him.