The BIG Day!!

Although our wedding day was one big blur, it was perfect - everything I'd ever imagined!  I know it took a  crew of people to pull it off, and I can't name everyone, because I'm not sure that I even know everyone who had a hand in it.  But THANK YOU to everyone who helped out in any way!  I'll let the pictures do the talking!

A sample of my favorite bridals!  The lace and buttons on my dress were taken from my Mom's wedding dress, that was made by her and my grandmother.  Tatyana Merryman - an amazing seamstress in Murfreesboro designed and made my dress, then took my Mom's veil and altered it to make it more modern and to flow with the dress.

It takes a crew just to get the bride ready!

Sweet Diane and Sophie

The whole wedding party!

Still and always Daddy's little girl

Thank you Blue Tones!

Yes, that's a nacho fountain!

John's Groom's cake.  The great people at Crumb de la Crumb made this cake to look like a photo that I sent of John with  a large mouth bass that he'd caught.

Girl's Trip!

We left straight from graduation at FHU (Sending Dad home in my packed down Saturn VUE) for a girl's beach trip!  Tori was the only bridesmaid who didn't get to make it, and we missed her.  Lindsey was only able to make it for a couple of days, but we're so glad she came!  It was absolutely beautiful while we were there, with no oil to be seen!  An added bonus was that with the oil scare, many people were cancelling thier trips, so we had hardly any wait anywhere we went and no crowds on the beach!  A sweet lady from church let us use her beach house for an amazingly generous price.  It was the perfect way to say "goodbye" to the single life!

Mom, Janna, and Melinda with their massive seafood platter!

They obviously enjoyed it!

Graduates!

Among all of this wedding chaos, we also managed to graduate!  We both received Bachelor's degrees from Freed-Hardeman University - John's in Environmental Biology, and mine in Nursing.

Shower Time!

April and May were jam-packed with showers and wedding preparation.  During this time John and I realized how blessed we are to have such amazing family and friends. What an overwhelmingly humbled feeling!

Family Shower

My cousin, Tori and her Mother, Charlotte did these amazing decorations!  Each table had a theme, and the best part was that I got to pack all of the decorations up and bring them home!

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The beautiful cake made by Tori Maggard!

Woodson Chapel Shower

Thank you wonderful ladies for all of your help!

This was just one of the packed gift tables... so overwhelming and humbling to literally see everyone's generosity!  When we thought we were finished opening the gifts on this table... we found that there were tons more gift bags packed underneath the table!

I don't have any pictures on my computer of our third shower - the Hohenwald shower, hosted by the wonderful ladies of Kimmins Church of Christ.  One of the many things that I absolutely loved about that shower was meeting the many ladies who have known and loved John his whole life.  They didn't have to convince me that he's amazing, but it was so nice to meet and get to know better that many people that have impacted his life and made him into the man and husband that he is today!

I also don't have any pictures of my last shower - a lingere brunch hosted by my aunt Janna.  It was nice to get  together and visit with friends old and new.  And a special thanks to Janna for putting it all together with another of my aunts, and her sister, Amy in the trauma ICU at Vanderbilt!  Amy was life-flighted to Vandy after a nasty run-in with a momma cow.  So happy to report that she's doing great at home!

Saying Goodbye

I worked for seven wonderful months at Jackson-Madison County General Hospital's NICU learning and developing into a neonatal nurse. I'm not sure that it's a process that can ever be completed, but I developed a major foundation there.  I made the difficult decision to leave my work home and work family that I had come to love for the best interest of my upcoming marriage. John simply could not use his major to be a provider for our family in that area. We were planning to go to Birmingham, AL for John to attend grad school, when there suddenly became a possibility of a state job in his field of study in Columbia, TN. I was super excited about this because we could possibly be close to both our families! I immediately began searching for jobs in both areas .... with no avail for many months.  The night came to say goodbye to my NICU family, and it was no easy task.  I was assigned a very sick tiny baby on my last night, and I was glad to have the distraction!  I was doing well until it came time to eat.  As I headed into the break room I found a beatiful potted flower with a sweet card that brought me to tears, and a yummy bunch of food waiting for me!  Everyone had chipped in to make my last night a party, even if it was only for my 30 minute meal break!
The hardest part of the night was by far cleaning out my locker, clocking out, and walking out the door for the last time.  I owe to everyone there the nurse that I am today!