Merry Christmas everyone!!! I hope you hearts are full of love & joy on this perfect day! Today we celebrate the deepest love of all. The love of our Savior!

I wanted to share a snippet of my surprise gift from my love! Wes Wages contacted my favorite photographer Gabriel Ryan and asked him to do a shoot of us this past week while we were in Los Angeles. When he told me I completely freaked out with excitement. I have followed Gabriel’s blog for about 3 and a half years now. Right after he and his lovely bride Carlie got married and started their own business. I fell in love with this couple and was over the moon to have them photograph us! Best gift idea ever! So I couldn’t wait to show you just a few! I am so thankful for this Christmas gift that I will be able to have forever.

Remember the first giveaway, I urged you to do your special session! Do it! I am so thankful that I did mine! 

This describes it. Love.

And now without further ado. We will announce the winner of a very special Christmas gift! We announce the first winner through video, we thought it be appropriate to announce the last! Congratulations!

Be Happy and Love each other.

T

Thank you all who have entered our month of giveaways! It has certainly been fun!

I am happy to announce that with your help we were able to donate enough money for 2 water filters for Nicole’s Samaritan purse goal. I am so excited. But I will be honest. I am a little disappointed. I had hoped we could do more, but I am thankful for the faithfulness for those of you who did participate. Luckily, you will be added double time to this entry if you enter again! And this is one you definitely don’t want to miss.

One of mine & Wes’ favorite things is to get away. haha.. I know what you are thinking. Yes, we love to travel. But honestly, one of our favorite times of the year is when we go up and spend the night in Nashville. No agenda, no meetings, nothing but us enjoying each other. And that is what we want to give you.

One night at Aloft Hotel in Nashville , Dinner at Bricktops with two movie tickets, and breakfast at our most favorite breakfast spot (actually where we ate the morning after our wedding) Monell’s. A perfect* date away!

What do I want to know?

Who are you taking away for the night? Why do you want take them?

Here is a photo of Wes and I on one of our very first photo dates with each other. Hanging out at the Parthenon in Nashville. It was the perfect date day with the man I loved… and he finally loved me too. And this day, I knew it.

Merry Christmas everyone. And thank you again for all of the love.

Be Happy and Love each other.

T

*gas and baby sitter not included.

First I want to thank you all for entering the Anthropologie giveaway! I loved reading about some of the unique gifts you have received And I am excited to announce today’s winner is….

Jessica Simpson

Thank random.org for selecting comment number 10!

Todays giveaway is a bit different from the last few. It is still a giveaway… but it isn’t for you.

Let me explain.

For the last 2 years, Nicole Vinson has faithfully been following our blog and commenting. We have had the chance to get to know her a little through this internet friendship. She, too, is a blogger. She blogs about faith and living a life as an example of Christ. I love the name of it… Bloom where you are planted. She has guest bloggers who tell their story and offer an encouraging or challenging word. She is also a lover of travel & love… so you get some of that goodness as well. But overall she has a heart for people.

This holiday season, she wanted to give back. She challenged her readers to help her raise money for clean water filters to families who are in need through the Samaritan’s Purse. Her goal is to give 10 water filter’s that cost $100 each. You can read more about her project here.

Because this season is more about giving than receiving, Wes and I thought it would be awesome if this weeks gift was to help someone else in need. So this is what we are doing.

I want to hear what you are thankful for this holiday season.

I am thankful for the health of all of my family members. Cliché right? But as I get older and I watch my grandparents get older, every single holiday I have them all here with me is truly a gift. I am a grandparent’s girl, so they mean the WORLD to me. I am also thankful for y’all. Giving Wes and I the opportunity to give is truly a blessing. I am so so thankful for each day I get to do what I love.

So for every comment. Wes & I will donate $5 to Nicole’s cause. For every new facebook & twitter follower we will donate $1. You have until 9pm on the 19th to comment. And if you comment on this blog, you are given double the chance of winning our very last gift announced on the 20th. It is going to be awesome. Truly one of mine & Wes’ favorite things. And no, it is not Caesar Wages ;)

This is a photo of us with Nicole! We finally got to meet her on Tuesday!! It was so great to meet someone so passionate and full of joy! She is doing things to change lives! And I want to help her!

Give back!

Jessica, send me an email with your address through our contact page, and I’ll put your gift right in the mail!

Be happy and love each other.
T

There is so much I can say about this wedding. To sum it up, I will say that it is one that I will hold in my heart for a long time.

Point number one. Smiling. If my mom had been sitting here while I was editing & looking at the photos, she would have said, “I love a happy bride” Probably 100 times. This day was all about smiles. Happiness. Joy.

Point number two.  Family. This family truly opened my eyes to what role a family is suppose to play in weddings. It isn’t just about the bride, or even the bride & groom, but it is about two families becoming one as they give their child to someone else. Both sets of parents were at every.single.shoot. I have never had a mother of the groom at a meeting before, and it warmed my heart that she played such an invested role. Courtney is now her daughter, just as much as Lance is her son. Love.

Point number three. Alice. When I am a mom, I hope that I am as happy as Alice. That day she was there taking care of everyone. Laughing, and having a great time. She made me feel like a guest, like a friend, like a part of the family. She brings such warmth to my heart. I smile every time I think of her.

Point number four. Editing. If you would have been looking at me through the window of 222 while I edited this wedding, you probably would have thought I was bipolar. One minute I was smiling so big that my mouth physically hurt. The next minute I was swiping tears from my eyes. To say this wedding brought me joy is a huge understatement.

Point number five. Love. There is no doubt in my mind that Courtney and Lance are very best friends. The best of best. I have never seen a bride and groom celebrate their marriage with such joyous giggles with each other. The groom was giggling. I was honored to watch it. I am so so happy for you both. You are finally one. I hope you enjoy your sneak peak of this perfect perfect day. Love.

Can we please talk for a minute about how beautiful Courtney is? Wow. I love how natural she looked, and how soft and classic. Absolutely gorgeous. 

Some of my favorite flowers ever. 

Courtney’s brother stood next to her as she got married. I LOVE this. 

Love.

Courtney’s dad built this gazebo by looking at a photograph he took. It was magical. When Courtney and Lance get settled in their future home it will go in their back yard. I can imagine their daughter playing wedding with it. Oh, love. 

Yes, that is a ring pop. haha. 

Be sure and enter our Jolly Christmas giveaway below!

Be Happy and Love each other!

T

Yes, Ladies and Gentlemen! It is time for another fantastic giveaway!!!

I want to thank you all for entering… I LOVED reading your traditions… everything from Waffle House to singing with your eyes closed to dressing up as the Nativity and even a tea party! I truly loved them all, and it definitely gave me a few ideas for myself! Thanks!

But first, I will announce the winner of last weeks Modern Family Season 1 AND 2!!! This person is sure to enjoy laughs in many many 24 minute increments! haha. The winner was chosen at random… thanks to random.org… haha. Congratulations to

 Lauren Long 

who said this:

“Hey sweet friends :) I know this sounds crazy, but we don’t really have family traditions since my parents divorced when I was a kid and my dad died when I was a teenager. Last Christmas I spent it in Auburn by myself and visited a friend for a little while. My mom was working and traveling and the rest of my family dispersed throughout the country. I know that sounds so sad, but this is why I think what you are doing is so cool because a lot of people don’t really have close by family to go to when the holiday season comes (why it gets so tough). I can’t wait to start new traditions with CJ. :) ANYWAY, something I make a point to do around Christmas time is sit with my mom and talk about my dad. And then, I sneak into my “room” (a room in her house with all of my childhood furniture in it) and go to the very bottom drawer in a dresser. Tucked in the very back is my dad’s favorite tshirt. There is a picture of him holding me as a newborn and he is wearing it. And honest to goodness, I keep it tucked away….because after 12 years without him, it STILL SMELLS LIKE HIM and his house. Instant memories flood. THAT is my Christmas tradition I do every holiday season. Just to remember my favorite man who walked the earth. I just pray that the shirt miraculously never loses that smell. Tis the season of miracles, right? :) (reading this story, it sounds really crazy, but this tradition blesses me every year so so so much.) Love y’all!!!”

and MERRY CHRISTMAS from us! And a big thanks to Random.org for choosing comment 20! haha!

And now… to carry on our tradition of giving away our favorite things… this weeks gift is from my most favorite store.

*Cue the angels singing*

Anthropologie. Yes, ladies go ahead and gasp.

This week I am giving away a beautiful necklace for you to rock out this holiday season. Gentlemen, this is definitely the prize to cue in on for the girlfriend/sister/wife/cool mom.

It is so wonderful, I wish I could keep it for myself. Those are the best gifts to give, right?

And what do I want to know this week?

What is the best gift you have ever received or given for Christmas?

For me, the gift that I have never gotten tired of is, of course, the perfectly wonderful Caesar Weezer Wages. And this is him with my ideal Christmas scene…

But there was that one year, 1995 (I am pretty sure) where we had the horrible ice storm. We didn’t have heat so we all stayed at my Papa’s house Christmas eve. We were all a little bummed out, and knew that the next day would be totally different. We woke up and the roads had cleared enough where we could go home. At this point, I knew we would be walking into an empty house. I had accepted it, and it was ok. But when we walked in there where 3 HUGE suitcases filled will our presents!!! I couldn’t believe my eyes. I guess that was just a time where we were truly surprised by it. Any time I see a big yellow suitcase, my heart gets so happy thinking about that day and how big my eyes must have been. I will never forget that Christmas morning and hope one day I can make my kids just as happy as I felt on that day.

Now, I want to hear yours. You have until 9pm on the 14th to enter and the winner with a new giveaway will be announced on the 15th!

I have a wedding coming to the blog Monday so stay tuned for goodness. I am actually wrapping up 4 weddings that I am totally obsessed with so you have lots of love coming your way!

Lauren, send me a message with your address and I will get your DVDs in the mail!

Be Happy and Love each other.

T