The Honeymoon

Happy Honeymoon!!

babies. was this really only 5 years ago??

on top of the Mayan Ruins

Shortly after we arrived to our hotel after the wedding reception, we had to leave around 5am to go to the airport. We even missed our complimentary breakfast! We were flying to Cozumel, Mexico to stay at the Cozumel Palace. It was a very short flight but as soon as we arrived, my new groom starting feeling sick. Headache, stomache pains, feeling weak..... perfect timing! I remember having to go down to the resort store to buy him some medicine, and everything was in a different language. That was fun. We had "Mexican Tylenol" for a few months after the honeymoon. :)

Our resort was so beautiful and right on the ocean. We stayed for 10 days! We had so much fun! It was all inclusive so we could eat whatever we wanted, whenever we wanted. Chocolate cake brought to your room before dinner? Why not! Steak? Sure! We mostly layed out by the pool and used the on-site snorkel equipment to swim in the ocean. Although, Guy is not the type of person who likes to sit and lay out. He didn't even bring a book to read! He has since changed his ways...well sort of. He would still rather be up and playing on the beach, rather than laying. I have no idea why but that's why I love him! We also signed up for a scuba diving lesson but they canceled it due to weather. One day we'll go back and do it!

We took a tour to the Mayan Ruins (one of them-I can't remember the name) and spent some time in Cancun. We rented a Jeep Wrangler for the day and toured the island of Cozumel. It only takes a little under 2 hours to drive the entire island. We saw a wild pig too. We were located 15 minutes (on foot) away from the "city" so we would walk there and visit shops or local restaurants.

It was such a beautiful island! We were fortunate to go back a few years after our honeymoon while we were on a cruise with our friends! That time we were told of a local beach where you can lay on beach chairs and snorkel in the ocean. It was so fun! And we finally ate at Coconuts! During our honeymoon, someone told us to eat at Coconuts and for some dumb reason, we chose not to. I am glad we went there during the cruise! It sits on top of a mountain and overlooks the ocean. It's litarally a tiki hut with plastic tables everywhere, but the views were amazing and the food was great!

What a blessing it was to be on a beautiful trip with my best friend and new husband! I really hope we can go back to Cozumel with our little family one day.



Rehearsal Dinner

The night before the wedding we had our rehearsal dinner. All the bridesmaids and scripture reading friends and singers came over to my house for a mini-bachalorette party. My dad and I were sitting outside on the patio waiting for the girls to arrive, and we just looked at each other and cried! It was a happy/I can't believe I'm getting married cry! It was sweet. My dad is awesome!

We had great weather that night and after the rehearsal ceremony, we drove over to Indiana for dinner at the Applewood Restaurant. We had the whole top floor and there was a huge outdoor patio that overlooked the river. Even though it was November 10th!!, we were able to be outside and enjoy the night with our friends. Guy and I said our goodbyes and I went straight to bed. Well first my entire family came into my room and sat on my bed. But then I went to sleep. :)

Guy and I took the more traditional route of wedding day well.....traditions. We decided not to talk, text, or see each other until I walked down the aisle. Which I LOVED! Even though I was super, super nervous, I was so excited to see Guy walking down the aisle. Such a special memory! We weren't able to get a lot of awesome pictures ahead of time but it really didn't matter to us. Now that we have kid(s), we just have pictures of them around the house anyways!

This was me walking down the aisle BTW. I was a wreck. My dad walked super slow so that we could savor the moment. So fun! Thanks dad for making this moment a very special memory!

One of my most favorite songs that I wish I would have played at our wedding is by Shane and Shane called "When I Think About the Lord." I feel like that was my theme song to this day. It still is! I was just so thankful for where the Lord had brought me. And of course, I am more thankful than ever!

when i think about the Lord
how He saved me, how He raised me
how He filled me with the Holy Ghost
how He healed me to the uttermost
when i think about the Lord
how he picked me up
turned me around
how He set my feet
on solid ground

it makes me want to shout
hallelujah! thank you, Jesus!
Lord, you're worthy
of all the glory, and all the honor
and all the praise!
Hallelujah! thank you, Jesus!
Lord, you're worthy
of all the glory, and all the honor
and all the praise!

*side note: whenever I play this song in the car, Braylen says "yea. turn it up." and moves his head to the beat. So funny.

Happy almost anniversary to my husband!

Life with the Domec's!

5 years ago this week, I was preparing to walk down the aisle with my sweet husband. I had most of the week off from work and we prepared programs, out of town gift baskets, gathered pumpkins and mums, and tried to stay cool and collective before the big day. I LOVED our wedding. It was one of the most special days of my life. I was so very nervous but thrilled to be marrying Guy. Looking back I wouldn't change a thing (except for adding a few touches via PINTEREST! darn you pinterest.). We had a packed house at the ceremony and ran out of food at our reception! We felt so loved by our family and friends. What an awesome way to "kick-off" a marriage.

A few weeks before the big day

Of course a lot has changed since that precious day! I wanted to take a few days this week to think about all that the Lord has done to capture our hearts and how he has brought us together to establish our little family.

To go with the 5 Year theme, here is my TOP FIVE MEMORIES!
1) Our Wedding Day!

So much has changed in photography since then, and I barely have any pictures from that day. I refuse to shell out $20 a print for an 8X10. But here is one of my favorite pictures from that night. I remember driving down the street to our reception with our bridal party and being so excited to celebrate with our friends and family. The Southgate Center has giant windows and we put candles everywhere so when we pulled onto the long driveway leading to the building, you could just see tons of glimmering lights and people socializing. So fun! We had our DJ annouce the bridal party to "Bring 'Em Out" - Guy was so "gangster" back then. :) Then Guy and I strolled in to Harry Connick Jr.'s version of "It Had to Be You," and we had our first dance. Loved making that entrance with my new groom!

2) Of course your first year of marriage isn't complete without a surprise pregnancy!

SURPRISE! You're pregnant after being married for 5 months. :) What a crazy time in our life that was. Guy was sooooo excited and he really was a solid rock during all of my emotional meltdowns and panic attacks. Seriously I had panic attacks. The Lord provided us with everything we needed to get by during those 9 months. I had lost my job when I was 4 months pregnant and we moved in with my parents. It was such a change for us. When most new mom's are decorating nurserys and buying crib bedding, I was just wondering how we were all supposed to fit in our tiny bedroom in the basement. "Baby's sleep through the night right?" Wrong. Being pregnant was hard for me. I am sooo wimpy. Had horrible heartburn and sciatica and I gained about 50 pounds!! But I did enjoy not working and having my mom make dinner for us and occassionally help with our laundry. :)

3) Welcome Mr. Braylen K. Domec!

Wow, the story of Braylen's delivery is for another post but we survived and welcomed the greatest addition to our family. Guy has is so sweet with kids. They love him! And he stepped in and took care of our little newborn when I was dealing with so many changes, and couldn't figure it out! Shew. After only being married for 13 months, and still trying to figure out how to be husband and wife, we had to learn to be parents. Thank you Lord for getting us through Braylen's first year! :)

P.S. Isn't Braylen sooo very handsome??

 4) Owning our first home!

We moved into our current home after Braylen was 1 month old. We love this little house (minus the tiny closets and one bathroom!). I remember my friend Nina who said that she loves to minister to people using their home. I love the thought of people feeling loved and comfortable just by being here. We hope that people always feel welcomed and accepted. One of our college YL guys said it may be small but it feels like a mansion. I love that! God has been so gracious with our finances and has totally provided for us. We have had sooo many ups and downs and he has brought us through. He usually brings Guy through gracefully and I am usually holding onto something kicking and screaming. But here we are!

5) Guy's first day back to school!
I love this memory. Guy has always been the greatest servant to those around him. He is always the first one to help out a friend or anyone in need. He decided that school wasn't for him early on but after so many crazy jobs and circumstances, he knew that going back to school to be an elementary school teacher was the right choice for our family. I remember Braylen and I meeting him for dinner before his first day. We brought him a card that told him how proud we are of him, and then off he went! I know that this is a strange memory, but I love the thought of the 2 of us (Braylen and I) being in his corner. Cheering for him! Yelling from the rooftops that HE CAN DO IT! And Guy being in school has really defined our family the last few years. He has an intense work schedule and is going to school full-time. God has graciously guarded my heart to not be bitter that Guy is not always here. We know that the long term benefits of this decision far outweighs the present. Being in school has also taught us more about reaching and accomplishing goals. One day soon we will look back and be amazed that we made it through!

I hope to share a few other highlights from the last 5 years! What's really funny is that on "major anniversary" years, I am always pregnant. Our first anniversary, I was due in 8 weeks and now on our 5 year, I am pregnant again. So much for that trip to Vegas! :)

Big Brudder

Braylen has been cracking us up lately! A few weeks ago, the two of us went to the park behind our house. I was on the phone talking to a friend but I let him out of the car to walk over to the swing set. I noticed that there was only one other mom and her little boy there. Braylen gets out of the car and screams "Is there anybody here that wants to play with me? Anyone?" It was hilarious. I was like hmm....well there is one kid here. The other mom laughed too, which was a good ice breaker so we got to talking for a bit while the boys played. She was pregnant too but still in that super sick stage (thank the good Lord that stage is over for me!!). She went to get some snacks to help with her nausau and while she was eating, Braylen came up to her and said "ohhh I'm sooo hungry!" bah!! He said, "can I have some of your snacks?" It was so funny. He kept bugging her even though I asked him to stop and she was so sweet to share her wheat thins with my crazy kid.

Guy and Braylen road their bikes to the playground yesterday. I mean when did my little baby boy grow up? My parents friends found him a bike at a yard sale for $7. Awesome. It's a real bike with training wheels. And he does a great job riding it. He's a natural. Here's a picture from when he rode in the "dark."

Braylen is not shy at all. He will go up to anyone and ask them if they are okay or ask them what they did that day. I have always asked the Lord to use him to bring joy to those around him and bring glory to Him. I really hope that Braylen continues to be excited about the people around him. Last week, we went up to MP's warehouse to visit with Guy and he had a girl there working who needed some community service hours. You could tell just by looking at her that she has had a very rough life. Braylen says, "hey mom, can I go up to him (he calls everyone a he/him/his) and say hi?" I said of course. So he just walks right up and says hello! She got a huge grin on her face and they talked for a bit. So very sweet. I love that he has no judgement towards anyone. Wouldn't you love to have that type of childlike sweetness? Just pure joy and love for those around you.

Our family has certainly been very busy. Guy works so hard for our family balancing school, work and YL. He has class every night of the week: M-Th. Craziness! I know that he is so very tired but when he has time with our family he plays and goofs around with Braylen. It's usually the two of them sneaking up behind me to "sqiurt me" and then they run off and hide. This Wednesday we find out if we are having a boy or girl! I can't wait! I am definitely NOT one of those mom's who likes to wait and be surprised. I was already surprised when I found out we were pregnant! Good enough for me. :) Besides Braylen will have so much fun telling people that he'll have a little brother or sister. He already tells complete strangers that he's going to be a big brudder. People look at me like oh really? and check to see if it's true. Which right now I just look chubby!! But I smile and say yes it's true.

I'm thinking that we need to get Bray a little camera for Christmas this year because I'm finding too many pictures like this on our camera:

Have a great week! I'll come back soon with details from our ultra sound!

Life Lately....

Braylen started preschool last Tuesday and while it was hard for me to "let him go," he could have cared less. He is loving it and his teacher said he's going to be "one of the leaders of the class." I can believe that because it seems like we are FOLLOWING him all day long. :) I shed a few tears when I said goodbye AND I had to go into the classroom to give him a hug and a kiss because he left without one!! He is much more welcoming when I come to pick him up. He never wants to talk about school afterwards. "Stop asking me questions, mom" or "I didn't do anything, mom." Whatever......

I did receive a text message from my cousin Jenna which said that she heard that Braylen let out the hermit crabs from their cage. oops. on his first day of school. oops. The teachers didn't tell me anything so I asked her who told her. She said-his teacher told my friends mom, who is also a teacher, and then she told me. Ha. I guess he's already making quite the impression. Gotta keep them on their feet!

First day of school pic-making a silly face. 

Once I hit 6 weeks of being pregnant, I became super, super sick! Nauseous all day long and I was "getting sick" a few times a week. On top of that I was super exhausted. Oh man it was awful. Braylen watched so much tv and my sister said she's never seen my house look so messy. :) It was so hard to go through normal routine. Braylen heard me say that I was so sick because there's a baby in my belly WAY too many times, that he started to believe he was sick because of the baby in his belly. :) The thought of food was just horrible. I think I made dinner for our family twice in 6 or 7 weeks. I just couldn't do it. I was a little nauseous with Braylen, but I would just eat a cracker or two and feel better. Not with this baby! I wonder it the baby is a girl! Just in case it is a girl, I went ahead and bought two dresses last week. :) BabiesRUS was having a buy one, get one free and everything was marked down. I couldn't resist! I kept the receipt. 

I started to feel better over Labor Day weekend-Family Camp! It was a wonderful weekend and Braylen barely hung out with us. He "traveled" to everyone else's camper and hung out with them. He gave camper tours and put on few shows for people. Also singing and marching with a stick in his hand. I managed to snag this pic of him in the "hammock." 

Look at those beautiful eyes.

We finally bought a car! After 6 months of being a one car family/driving/wrecking other peoples cars (seriously), the Lord led us to a great "new" car for our family. After having so many problems with our mini van, we were so nervous to buy something else. Every time we would test drive a car at a dealership, I would feel sick about it. This car we bought from an owner, and I just felt comfortable in. They knocked off $500 from the asking and we decided to buy it. What a huge burden lifted. You can read our journey to a new vehicle here. 

Have a wonderful weekend!

Top Summer Memories

I can't believe that summer is coming to an end and that I haven't updated our blog in 3 months! We have had a lot of exciting things happen this summer! Here is my top 10!

1) I became an aunt!
My sister Jess had her first baby in the beginning of July! Baby Kaleb is the sweetest little guy ever. My mom and I drove down when she went into labor and we arrived 20 minutes before he arrived. It was amazing to be there for Jess and Vince! Braylen loves his little cousin too.

2) Amy got married!
My sister in law, Amy, got married a few weeks ago to Dustin Gohs. She was a sweet little bride and we had an awesome time celebrating with the family. Braylen was the ring bearer and told everyone that he was a prince. He was so precious. Didn't want to take off his tux ALL NIGHT! He had blisters on his feet from his black shoes. He did great.

3) Camping trip to Loveland
We spent a weekend camping with my parents and had a great time. We went to the Air Force Museum, took bike trips, walks, sat around the campfire and roasted marshmallows.

4) Festivals and Rides
Braylen loved all things "rides" this summer. We took him to Coney Island for a day and a few festivals to ride the rides. We would be so excited for him while he was on a ride but he hardly ever smiled until he got off the ride. So funny.

5) Swimming pools!
Braylen finally gathered enough courage to jump in the pool by himself! He is still using his floaties (hopefully this is the last summer for those) but he became a little fish this summer. He even jumped off into the deep end!

6) Family beach trip!
We drove to Charlotte to stay with the Meiman's for a week and we decided to drive to the beach for a few days. We booked a trip on Priceline and stayed on the beach in Hilton Head. It was awesome for the three of us to be together on the beach. Braylen loved the ocean and the sand, and even made a little friend at the resort.

7) We climbed a mountain!
Jess and Vince live about 20 minutes away from Crowder mountain. There is a trail called Backside and it has a gravel path and stairs so it made it a little "easier" for us to climb with Braylen. He kept saying we're almost to the top of the mount. :) I was really nervous about this but Braylen did awesome.  It was beautiful!

8) Landscaping
I realize this is not a top 10 thing for everyone but Guy and I actually like do this. We pulled out a few more things from our yard and put in some mulch and spruced up our yard a bit. We were able to do this for Guy's parents too. We always joke that when Guy starts teaching and has his summers off that we'll start our own "mulching" business because we're so good at it.

9) Baseball
We took Bray to a baseball game this year and he has really started to enjoy the sport. I am anxious to see what he will be excited about when he gets older. He loves music so much! I think he might just play in the band!

10) Last but not least....
I'm pregnant!
I am 10 weeks tomorrow. We are very excited. The baby is due in early March, so it will certainly be March Madness for us. :) I have been feeling super sick and tired. I am very much looking forward to the 2nd trimester.

So that is our Summer Top Ten! We still have a few more exciting things coming up! This Saturday we are celebrating my mother in law's 60th Birthday! Happy Birthday Peggy! We have leader weekend, our Annual Labor Day Family Camp trip, baby showers, a trip to Gatlinburg, and our first doctor visit for the baby. Lots of fun! Guy is also still working hard for MP and just started back to school this week. He is amazing husband and dad. Be praying that we can be good managers of our time and relationships.

Looking forward to the Fall!

I wrote this a few weeks ago and I'm finally posting it........

Walk-Talk

Taking a walk in Mommy I's neighborhood in New Orleans

One of my most favorite things to do when it's nice outside, is go for a walk! I love it! The summer before our wedding I walked and walked and walked and walked! And lost about 15 pounds. :) Most of the time my dad joined me on the walk, and we had (what I like to call it) a "walk talk." A walk talk is the best for great conversation and one on one time. It's just the two of you! I really treasure that time with my dad too! I try to walk as much as I can but it's hard dragging a 3 1/2 year old through neighborhoods-especially now that he doesn't want to ride in the stroller. He's too cool for that.

Walking is so great for staying in shape but it allows you to be intentional with your thoughts and prayers. You're not distracting by the laundry that needs to be folded or the dishes in the sink......I guess you could be thinking of those things though! :) It's just you and the Lord. Last Friday morning, my mother in law Peggy, watched Braylen for a little bit so that I could walk her neighborhood. It was so great! I listened to Shane and Shane's "Psalm's" album on my ipod and loved every second of it.

Braylen and I walked (well he rode) over to Mall Road a few days ago. We stopped at the grocery store and Old Navy. It's nice to be in walking distance to the store as we still only have one car right now. sigh. Anyways. I let Bray get out and run around next to the old movie theater. He loved it. He walked up the steps to the theater and started trying to open the doors, and one of them was actually OPENED! So we walked around the deserted lobby, played in the concession area, roamed the empty theaters......... totally kidding!!!! I was like ugh...let's get out of here Braylen. I don't know why but it totally freaked me out that the doors were unlocked. I mean who could possibly be in there! :) It was only 11am but who cares? I've seen plenty of scary movies and Law & Order episodes to know not to go in there.

But back to walking real fast. I was thinking about how awesome it will be to walk in Heaven. You can talk your little heart out and not have to worry about walking faster to burn calories. Wonderful.

This weekend is Father's Day! I am sooooo incredible blessed to have the greatest dad ever. Seriously. I also have an awesome father in law who is going to host a Father's Day dinner and grill out some amazing food. You should be jealous because everything he makes is delicious.

Guy! Braylen and I love you so much! Thank you for loving and serving us. Braylen says Happy Father's Day daddy!

Have a great weekend!

A Wedding, A Shower, A Leader Weekend

The month of May was full of a lot of great weekends and parties. My BFF Hillary got married and I was so thrilled to be apart of her special day! She looked stunning and her wedding reception was awesome-full of thrifty, cute, "thought of ALL the details" finds. I wish I had more pictures but here are a few. 

The day after the wedding, my mom and I (although my mom did most of the work! love you mom!) threw a baby shower for my little sister! She is due on July 10th and I am ready to be an aunt! We keep telling Braylen about his baby boy cousin and he is getting excited. My mom and I enlisted friends and family members to help with food but my mom made mini red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese frosting and they were delicious. We also made cute pom pom hanging flowers, diaper favors, a blessing tree, and blue "bath time" punch. I of course didn't take ANY pictures! The only photo I have is of the bath time punch which turned out awesome! You can visit Cory's blog for more pics from the shower and here for instructions on the punch. Isn't it cute? 

By the way, I ended up leaving the shower early because Guy took Braylen to the hospital! He ended up being fine but he had a 104.5 fever and seemed really sick. They gave him a dose of Tylenol and he bounced back. When I showed up to the hospital, he started crying and said "I just want to feel better!" ugh. Thank you Lord that we can take our children to the hospital and doctor whenever they are really sick!

The next weekend we went on our annual YL Leader Retreat over Memorial Weekend. This year it was at Timberwolf YL Camp in Lake City, MI instead of Rockbridge in Virginia. This is my 10th year going on this retreat! This year was super special because my family was able to stay in the same room! When I was single, I stayed with girls in the dorm and then once I had Braylen, all the moms, babies, and kids were usually thrown in the same room/cabin. Which is not the most ideal situation. Timberwolf has this awesome Assigned Team Cabin with 10 suites (2 bedroom, bathroom) a huge lobby with a fireplace, comfy couches, etc and each family had their own suite. It was so nice! Braylen had his own room and slept in his own bed! Such a big boy! Slept like a champ too. Timberwolf is on a beautiful lake and there are tons of rocking chairs, hiking trails, etc and the ATC has a playroom! I felt like someone should just pinch me. Needless to say, we had a great time. There was lots of fellowship, one on one talks with friends, and both speakers spurred us on to be more intimate with our Heavenly Father. Here are a few pics from the weekend. Oh! And Braylen went fishing for the first time and caught two fish! :)

A few other highlights from the month of May were attending my sister in law's wedding shower in Louisville. Amy is getting married in July and I cannot wait to celebrate the day with her. She will be the sweetest bride! Braylen also started playing in a soccer league. And he hated it. Which means mommy and daddy hated it. He basically only "played" in 1 game and he almost scored a goal BTW. :) We haven't gone back because, well, let me tell you mom's and dad's: it is not worth forcing your child to play in a sport when he's only 3! I just thought it would be fun. Apparently it's not. I can see marching bands and trumpets in our future..........sigh. 

Sorry for the lack of posts! I hope to update soon with details from our long but fun trip down to Charlotte! 

Intentional

I realize that it's been a few weeks since my last post! I think I enjoy reading other people's blogs rather than updating my own! But I know that I will love looking back as our family grows. 

We are still looking for another car! Using one car is definitely not easy but it's okay. Sometimes Braylen and I can take Guy to work in the morning and we'll have the car for the day. We can also walk to Krogers on Mall Road by walking through neighborhoods. I love doing that and using Bray's stroller as a cart! The problem is, it hasn't stopped raining!! I am hoping that the warm weather sticks around. Braylen also had a nasty sinus infection that lasted for 2 weeks! He was taking multiple naps everyday and going to bed early. So out of character for him. But he is back to himself and back to skipping naps. :) I didn't even try a nap today. I think he still needs one because he can be super cranky at night but what do you do?!

Guy's spring semester at school is wrapping up and he is doing really well. He's pretty excited to have 2 years of school completed! So am I. I am so proud of him. He works so so so hard for our family. He never complains and seems to manage all of his many important roles in a way that "leaves room" for loving and serving others. We continue to pray for people to join our support team with Master Provisions (where Guy works) as we are working on fundraising for his salary. If you are interested in joining our team, let me know! :)

We had a wonderful Easter celebration in NKY this year! We missed my family though-my parents and sis/brother in law were in Charlotte and other family members were up in Madison, IN visiting my uncles church. We had a great lunch at my in law's and an wonderful dinner at a friends house. We did a small easter egg hunt with Braylen that morning. We told him that mommy and daddy hid the eggs, not the bunny....... still not sure how I feel about lying to my kid about it. He loved it. We put money in some of the eggs and he said "hey that's not candy! This is not fair!" so funny!

God is so good! We feel so blessed by him and so in awe of how incredibly personal he is! I know I said this in the last post but I feel like he has been so intentional with our family. God is always intentional-from the very beginning of time. He knew exactly what he was doing. I don't think I'm ever aware of it or allow myself to slow down to see where he is working. I am such a creature of comfort and of habit. I don't allow God to work because I'm constantly putting up walls. It's not until I have built a house around me that I cry out for help. Needless to say, we are learning and growing. I hope to remember this time in our lives in the years to come. 

Also I hope everyone is enjoying the first week of May! I can't believe it's May! We have some super fun things coming up-bachorlette party, rehearsal dinner, WEDDING!!, my sister's BABY SHOWER!!, and YL Leader Weekend! So many fun things. My mom and I have been coming up with a few fun things for the shower! Can't wait to bless my sis and her family with little baby gifts. I have even been using my sewing machine. Braylen is still not sure what it means to have a cousin but he'll figure it out.

The other day I had a "helper" in the kitchen:

I never thought I'd be making lunch next to a snake! Boys are so fun. 

We had a giant tree branch fall during one of our many storms! Thank goodness it did not hit our house! Picking up the sticks was not fun. But a nice workout. :)

Hope you all have a great week!