Vows on Vilano Beach

My Hunter is no longer hunting - he caught me.

Reading the Introductory Prayer

Allow me to introduce my husband, whom until now I have called Hunter on the blog.  His name is Byron, and we got married on Friday.

Vilano Beach is a mixture of sand and coquina shells.
So pretty.

We've actually been engaged for a few months, and were planning a wedding at our home in May.  I planned to announce it here on the blog very soon.

But then Byron's Dad passed away, and my dad had a heart attack, and between that, wedding plans, trying to get our property in shape for a wedding, work, and life in general....we became overwhelmed.

I came home from work one morning last week and suggested we cancel all of our plans and elope on the beach.
Byron was TOTALLY on board.

Listening to the prayer.

So, that's exactly what we did!
And it's one of the best decisions either of us has ever made.

The weather was perfect.  We couldn't have chosen a better weekend.
Warm, breezy, and not a cloud in the sky.

I rounded up an officiant, rearranged my work schedule, booked a room, asked my best friend Danielle to join us, and we bought our outfits.
Once we got here to Vilano Beach, I grabbed a bouquet of fresh tulips (purple, of course), and we were on our way to our wedding!

Saying our Vows.

There were a few more details than that, but truly, not many.  We kept it as uncomplicated as possible.

Our Song was playing here -
 God Gave Me You by Blake Shelton

It was absolutely perfect.  Incredible, amazing, and beautiful.  I was able to hand-select every word that the officiant said.  We had two friends join us for the ceremony.  One videotaped the service, the other took pictures.

Pure happiness.

I mostly cried. LOL  It was just so beautiful, moving and romantic and perfect and did I mention BEAUTIFUL??

Danielle cried maybe even more than I did.  Byron and I are just so in love, and the sweet simplicity of it all was so emotional and moving.

I won't bore you with the entire ceremony but I am going to print the poem here, and bombard you with pictures.

I am a happy, happy girl!

From this day forward

I make a promise:

Whatever happens, 

You shall not walk alone.

I’ll stand by your side, 

And sleep in your arms.

I’ll be the joy in your heart,

And the food for your soul,

May you feel deeply loved,

For indeed you are.


Through our brightest days

And our darkest nights,

I take you into my heart. 

May God bless us

With a great light, 

Around our hearts

And around our home.

I see your beauty, 

Your innocence and light.

May it shine.


May the world see how beautiful you are

As I see how beautiful you are.

But may there be a special light

That only I can see.

I give you my heart.

May we feel this joy forever.




Visit Unknown Mami for more SIMC posts!!

Come look at the pretty, pretty fragments!

Today is going to be a great day!

I am meeting with a potential new client this morning. The woman who hired me for my current caregiving position referred me to a friend of hers, who needs in-home care for her mother. If all goes well, these two clients will give me all the hours I need and I'll still be home when the kids get home from school. I'm very excited!

Then I have a nail appointment (YAY, pamper ME time!), after which I'll have lunch with my hubby.

All of the kids will come home tomorrow evening. After I get them, we're picking up Elayna's friend, who will be spending the night. I'm taking the girls to an outdoor concert. It's a young female country singer who we've seen perform before.

I also have a craft planned for them to do on Saturday. If you know me, you're probably rolling on the floor laughing right now. I am totally craft-challenged! But I found one that I think I can handle. If all goes well, I'll post pictures. If not? This conversation never happened.

See this sweet little boy right here?

This week, he went to the beach. Just him, and a group of his friends. They stayed in a hotel. Three days and two nights. All by themselves!!

Okay, he's grown up a little since that picture, and they are all legally adults. But 18 months, 18 years....I still worry!

I am SO glad they are now safely home!

Shelbie has spent the week at a church camp. She'll be home tomorrow. We've texted some and I know she's had a lot of fun, but I can't wait to hear all about it.

On a totally different topic: I swear if I hear Kat Von D say "I'm the luckiest girl in the world!" one more time I'm going to vomit. And then mail it to her.

She's marrying a man (Jesse James) who openly cheated on his last wife and treated her like garbage. On what planet does that make her lucky??

I actually used to like her, a lot. Ick.

This is a new song from Brad Paisley & Carrie Underwood, and I just love it.

Have a wonderful weekend!

And don't forget to visit Mrs 4444 and get your FRAG on!!

Blogging, Books, & the Beach, etc!

Finally, I got a new internet thingy, so my internet is no longer broken! Maybe I will be able to blog more now! Let's start with the Famous Friday Fragments.

Tonight we're going to an outdoor concert. From May - October, the town near us has free concerts downtown every Friday. A couple of years ago we went almost every Friday, but since John works every Friday night now, we haven't been in a long time. But tonight, one of John's favorite groups is performing, so he took the night off. They are a reggae group called De Lions of Jah. It's going to be FUN!

If all goes well, we're going to leave Sunday for a quick beach trip. I only wish it could be a LONG beach trip, because Mama needs a vacation!!

I got Tim Tebow's autobiography, Through My Eyes, for John, and I can't wait to read it myself. (did anyone see him on Jimmy Kimmell Wednesday night? So.freaking.gorgeous!)
But first, I got Heaven is for Real by Todd Burpo for me to read. I have heard so much about it and can't wait to read it!

I'm going to cut this short so I can go catch up on your blogs! Hope you have a wonderful weekend. Don't forget to visit Mrs 4444 for more Friday Fragments!