Our priorities for the weekend included bike riding, eating good food, and spending time together.
On Friday, we both got off work early just because we got lucky. We ate dinner at Logan's, and we managed to get the $13.99 for two entrees deal because we got there early. After dinner, we watched Jeopardy and then went grocery shopping for the week to avoid the Saturday crowd.
Saturday morning was slow, but we knew we wanted to beat the heat for a bike ride. We headed out before 11am toward a part of town that our bikes had never seen. In the first 2.3 miles of our ride, we had to walk up two hills that are outrageous! We weren't even out of our neighborhood yet! At the top of that climb, we got to Forsyth Road, a main road in town with a sidewalk. We turned from there onto Zebulon Road, which also has a sidewalk, and we headed for Wendy's. We knew we needed light food because of the heat of our ride and because of our plans for the rest of the day. After Wendy's, we rode across the street to Wal-Mart and checked out bird baths, water hoses, grill brushes, step ladders, and digital frames. We bought a grill brush, and we decided on a step ladder, but we'll have to take a car to go pick that up later. Our ride home was warmer than we really liked, but we were fine. Total miles for Saturday: 11.7.
On Saturday afternoon, we went to two bike shops looking at road bikes for Jennifer. We're still shopping so far. We came home and cleaned up around the house, and Keith washed his cars. Then, we started working on dinner. We grilled steaks (our first ones on our new grill!), and we had twice-baked potatoes, brussel sprouts, and rolls. It was quite easy and delicious!
After church on Sunday morning, we continued with our digital frame shopping. We love the frame we got for Christmas, and we want to put our wedding pictures on a larger one. So, we hit several stores in the same shopping area, and we got lucky at HH Gregg. The right size for the right price! It's the same brand as our first one, so the learning curve won't be too hard.
We also continued our bird bath shopping, but we weren't very successful with that. So, we headed to lunch at McAllister's where we ate light again because our steak dinner was still with us, and we were hoping to get another bike ride in later.
On our way home, we drove around looking at other bike riding options to get away from the two steep hills in our neighborhood. No luck, though! On our ride that afternoon, we rode those hills again on our way to Virginia's house. We took our laptop with us to show her the digital pictures we've received from our wedding. We got home just in time to shower and go to a special event at church. Total miles for Sunday: 7.7.
At church on Sunday, they showed a documentary about Liberia called "Pray the Devil Back to Hell." It was quite intense as it told the story of the Civil War in the country and how women led the way to peace. Since we have some ties to Liberia already, it was an important movie.
So, on this Keith and Jennifer Weekend, we accomplished our goals!
4.23.2009
We're doing great
There's very little going on that's newsworthy, and we like it that way for a change. Keith is very busy at work this week, and Jennifer has something out of the ordinary planned for most days of the week. We're learning each other's routines and adjusting well together. Thanks for continuing to read and care for us.
4.18.2009
It's official!
Jennifer's name is legally changed with the Social Security Administration and the Driver's License office.
She is now "Jennifer Michelle Blackwell."
4.17.2009
Life is moving slower for us
We can't say we have a routine yet, but our life is moving much slower now than it has for the last six months. This weekend will be the first that we haven't had something on the agenda in months, and we're looking forward to it.
So, don't take our quiet here on the blog as a bad thing. It's just that we're catching our breath after the busyness of our wedding.
So, don't take our quiet here on the blog as a bad thing. It's just that we're catching our breath after the busyness of our wedding.
4.14.2009
Some reflections
So many details of our wedding experience amazed us.
First, our families and friends have left us humbled by their (your) support and help. Truly, we couldn't have done it without you all. You recognized important moments along the way, and you kept us from getting too stressed out sometimes with your help and sometimes with your listening ear and compassionate responses. It took an army to pull off our wedding, and you were there ready to decorate, move things, and take our minds off of the craziness. We are grateful for you, and there are not enough words to communicate the depth of our gratitude. We were also humbled by your gifts to us. There will be notes in the mail eventually, but we sure do want you to know that we appreciate your generosity and thoughtfulness!
Second, with an outside wedding and a honeymoon trip that depends on good weather, we have been stunned by what we have seen. In the ten days before our wedding, Macon got over eight inches of rain! Lots of folks were afraid for us, and we stuck by our plan. In fact, on April 4, the sun was so bright that our programs were used to cover heads and keep sunburn at bay. Then, a few days after our wedding, the air was very cool, even getting down to freezing one night! It didn't rain really, but we were watching the weather on Jekyll Island carefully. The wind came during the weekend, so our bike-riding was more demanding. But, the rain storm that came through Georgia yesterday did not affect our vacation nor our unpacking after we got home. We literally drove through the rain for eighty miles! People have said they prayed for the weather during the weekend of our wedding. I don't know if God has anything to do with the weather, but it all turned out amazing for us!
We know life won't always be this sweet, but it's been a great way to start our marriage! We even talked over the last weekend about trying to extend our happiness during our honeymoon into at least the first year of our marriage. Things will happen, stuff will come up, but we'll negotiate it all as best we can. If the year of our dating relationship and engagement is any indication, we'll resolve things things well together.
What stories do you remember from our wedding? Who did you see that you hadn't seen in a while? What surprised you? What still makes you smile ten days later? Especially, we know we couldn't be there for everything, so we want to know what we missed. Let us know in the comments here.
First, our families and friends have left us humbled by their (your) support and help. Truly, we couldn't have done it without you all. You recognized important moments along the way, and you kept us from getting too stressed out sometimes with your help and sometimes with your listening ear and compassionate responses. It took an army to pull off our wedding, and you were there ready to decorate, move things, and take our minds off of the craziness. We are grateful for you, and there are not enough words to communicate the depth of our gratitude. We were also humbled by your gifts to us. There will be notes in the mail eventually, but we sure do want you to know that we appreciate your generosity and thoughtfulness!
Second, with an outside wedding and a honeymoon trip that depends on good weather, we have been stunned by what we have seen. In the ten days before our wedding, Macon got over eight inches of rain! Lots of folks were afraid for us, and we stuck by our plan. In fact, on April 4, the sun was so bright that our programs were used to cover heads and keep sunburn at bay. Then, a few days after our wedding, the air was very cool, even getting down to freezing one night! It didn't rain really, but we were watching the weather on Jekyll Island carefully. The wind came during the weekend, so our bike-riding was more demanding. But, the rain storm that came through Georgia yesterday did not affect our vacation nor our unpacking after we got home. We literally drove through the rain for eighty miles! People have said they prayed for the weather during the weekend of our wedding. I don't know if God has anything to do with the weather, but it all turned out amazing for us!
We know life won't always be this sweet, but it's been a great way to start our marriage! We even talked over the last weekend about trying to extend our happiness during our honeymoon into at least the first year of our marriage. Things will happen, stuff will come up, but we'll negotiate it all as best we can. If the year of our dating relationship and engagement is any indication, we'll resolve things things well together.
What stories do you remember from our wedding? Who did you see that you hadn't seen in a while? What surprised you? What still makes you smile ten days later? Especially, we know we couldn't be there for everything, so we want to know what we missed. Let us know in the comments here.
4.13.2009
Behind the camera
MO is not in most pictures because she's behind the camera most of the time. Ginger snagged a picture of MO walking in to the reception with Jennifer's flowers.
Ginger did a good job of making sure MO got into at least a few pictures. We even had our own picture of just the two of us!
Ginger did a good job of making sure MO got into at least a few pictures. We even had our own picture of just the two of us!
4.12.2009
4.11.2009
Some quick pictures from our honeymoon
We're having a blast! Here's the view from our balcony.
Does this man look relaxed, or what?!
We've gone more than 31 miles on our bikes in three days, and this is one of the views we saw on the first day. We had to come back for a picture! Live oaks are the state tree of Georgia. Look how beautiful they are!
We rode about two miles of our trip today on the beach, with about half of that at Driftwood Beach. Here's Keith with some wood in the water and on the beach behind him. It's a very surreal landscape.
Jennifer crawled on a tree out over the water. Happy girl! (It was quite an adventure getting back to the dry land....)
4.10.2009
Happy Birthday, Mama!
Jennifer's mom's birthday is today! We hope it's a great one.
You certainly worked hard last week making sure everyone knew what their jobs were for the wedding. Your phone rang off the hook! Thanks for keeping Jennifer sane as long as possible and for welcoming Keith into the family as a son. We can't say enough how much we appreciate you.
Feel free to leave a comment for her here, if you like.
You certainly worked hard last week making sure everyone knew what their jobs were for the wedding. Your phone rang off the hook! Thanks for keeping Jennifer sane as long as possible and for welcoming Keith into the family as a son. We can't say enough how much we appreciate you.
Feel free to leave a comment for her here, if you like.
4.09.2009
Some group pictures
Our families
All of Keith's family
Jennifer's family
The unofficially adopted family - three generations!
The wedding party
The Sign Language Crew
The Ladies of Honor
Mike's daughters-in-law
The ministers
One side of the crowd
All of Keith's family
Jennifer's family
The unofficially adopted family - three generations!
The wedding party
The Sign Language Crew
The Ladies of Honor
Mike's daughters-in-law
The ministers
One side of the crowd
4.08.2009
Pictures from our ceremony
Jay is escorting me down the stairs.
Keith is watching as I make my way through the crowd hugging lots of folks who love us.
In the Hands Ceremony, Nikki tells me that Keith's hands are a gift to me. His hands will celebrate with me, wipe the tears from my eyes, provide for our future, and care for children and elders in our families. Similarly, my hands are a gift to Keith.
Our Sand Ceremony starts with separate colors of sand that mix inside the frame to make a piece of art that will be displayed in our home. There is no way to separate the grains of sand into their individual colors again just like there is no way to separate our lives.
This picture was taken just after Nikki said, "Keith, you may kiss your bride" and just before she said, "And, Jennifer, you may kiss your groom."
Keith is watching as I make my way through the crowd hugging lots of folks who love us.
In the Hands Ceremony, Nikki tells me that Keith's hands are a gift to me. His hands will celebrate with me, wipe the tears from my eyes, provide for our future, and care for children and elders in our families. Similarly, my hands are a gift to Keith.
Our Sand Ceremony starts with separate colors of sand that mix inside the frame to make a piece of art that will be displayed in our home. There is no way to separate the grains of sand into their individual colors again just like there is no way to separate our lives.
This picture was taken just after Nikki said, "Keith, you may kiss your bride" and just before she said, "And, Jennifer, you may kiss your groom."
4.07.2009
From Jay's camera
Jay and Megan, his girlfriend, arrived on Friday. They came to our house first, and they met up with my mom and Ed at the hotel. Someone (probably Aunt Shirley) got drafted to take a picture. This sure does look like a happy crowd!
Melissa worked hard all weekend along with Lynne. This is a picture before the ceremony.
From his seat, Jay snapped a picture of us during the sign language. It's another angle of the first picture we posted two days ago. You can see both Rick and Nikki behind us in this one.
Jay and Aunt Shirley hadn't seen each other in ages (she lives in Iowa and wins the "longest distance traveled" award for the weekend), but they worked hard together during the weekend.
Jay and Megan at the reception. You can see blue flowers in the background.
Melissa worked hard all weekend along with Lynne. This is a picture before the ceremony.
From his seat, Jay snapped a picture of us during the sign language. It's another angle of the first picture we posted two days ago. You can see both Rick and Nikki behind us in this one.
Jay and Aunt Shirley hadn't seen each other in ages (she lives in Iowa and wins the "longest distance traveled" award for the weekend), but they worked hard together during the weekend.
Jay and Megan at the reception. You can see blue flowers in the background.
4.06.2009
From another camera
Nikki and I walked to the Park together for the ceremony. This gate is decorated for the Cherry Blossom Festival, which is an annual event in Macon. My mom showed me the spot early in the week as a really good picture. There's one somewhere of Keith and me walking back after the ceremony.
Just before she went down to her seat, my mom asked Ed to take a few pictures of her and Jay with me. Haha!
After the ceremony...!
Just before she went down to her seat, my mom asked Ed to take a few pictures of her and Jay with me. Haha!
After the ceremony...!
4.05.2009
It was a perfect day!
Happy wedding day to us!
Happy wedding day to us!
Happy wedding day, Keith and Jennifer!
Happy wedding day to us!
4.04.2009
452 minutes!
Good morning, family and friends!
It's our wedding day!
We had a great supper last night, and we got to chat with some of our guests at the hotel before we tried to get some sleep. I was more successful with sleep last night than the previous night, but I'm still up at 6:30 am!
We are no longer in control of this event, but the people who are in control are quite good at it.
Oh, the memories are so grand for this week! We'll try to tell some stories over the next few weeks.
Let us know you're favorite part of the ceremony, if you like.
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