25

This happened last month.

On August 20th we celebrated 25 years of marriage.

Say wha?!  I can't believe it myself.

It has flown by.  Seriously flown by.

We always talked about how on our 25th we would do something big to celebrate...

like go on a big trip or renew our vows. 

But our 25th happened to be sandwiched in between two weddings.

Our daughter's.  So we kinda put the big trip celebrating on hold.

But no worries....we still celebrated.

They made sure of that and made it super special.

Lydia had us over to her house where they cooked us a wonderful meal.

We facetimed Elizabeth and Chris and the grandkids so they could celebrate with us.

They had it decorated beautiful!

Lydia even found these vintage 25th "silver" anniversary dishes.

 We finished out the night getting serenaded by our son-in-law mad skills on the guitar.

It was a wonderful evening.

I always knew life together was gonna be great when we said I do way back then,

But I never knew just how great.

It's better than anything I could have imagined...being his bride.

I'm looking forward to 25 more together!

Oh... and by the time you read this, we'll be putting these passports to use!

Look's like we're gonna get to take that big anniversary trip after all!

My mom and step-dad celebrate their 25th anniversary in Oct and they treated us to join them on a cruise to the Caribbean!  We skipped the family beach trip this year AND....I was the big winner of the Losing to Gain SO she morphed all the trips into one biggie!

Bon Voyage!

                                                                                          

(I'll be unplugged for a while enjoying my man.  No phone, emails, texts, instagram, Facebook.  

I'll see you in a week!)

Friday's Letters

Dear Cutie Pie Husband of Mine,

  I had fun with you at Steak and Shake.  Actually, I have fun with you wherever we are. But you know that already don't you? xoxo

ps. Remember those "bargain half price shakes" that enticed me to get my own instead of sharing with you?  Yeah me too.  I also remember laying on the couch in agony for an hour after eating it. Ughh.  So NOT worth it.  (never again...remember that. OK?)

Dear Jennifer,
  This time last week, we were enjoying a cup of cup together catching up on all that the Lord has done and is doing in our lives.  What a great time of fellowship!  Praising God's faithfulness with the redeemed is my fave!  Psalm 107

 Dear Thrift Store,
  I never know what I'm gonna find when I go treasure hunting....this time I found Truth. Thank you for the two blue tags I found for less than a dollar but more than that thanks for this great reminder.  

Dear Farmer's Market Restaurant,

  Nick loves your smoked meat but my fave is your salad bar.  For obvious reasons.

Dear Rebeca,

 Thank you for the sweetest of sweet packages that I had waiting for me in my stack of mail.  Your Random Acts of Craftiness that you are doing, where you send handmade goodies that you create to unsuspecting recipients is a BLESSING.  This little beauty and her message couldn't have come at a more perfect time.

 Dear Box of "Too Small Clothes",
     It was fun stumbling across you in our storage while  looking for my winter boots.  Everything fits now so I will have to change your label which is pretty awesome.  And its super nice being reunited with some of my favorite t-shirts.  I haven't seen this guy in years.

Dear Hannah,

   You bless me daily with your friendship.  I don't know what "the girls" would do without your expertise on most subjects that we text about. You really blessed me when you sent me some of your new hoops!  And mint and gold! ....you know me well.  Love you.  And congratulations on your shop reaching 1000 sales!!  I mean...wow!

 Dear Rosalyn,
  Your Honey loves seeing you create.  You are growing up so fast that it blows my mind!  You will be having a birthday before we know it and will turn 5!!  How did this happen so fast?   I'm so glad that you promised me that no matter how big you get, you will always be my Toot Toot.  Don't forget that ok?

Dear Lydia,
   Thank you for cutting my hair.  I forgive you for the 3 inches you whacked trimmed....I can see your wisdom in your doing so when I have styled it each day... it's much much healthier. So there you go....Are we bff's again now?

Dear Pastor of mine,
   I loved your illustration of your new gun you shared on Sunday.  About how excited you were and blessed by the gift you had received from your dad when he gave it to. And that some people around you don't share in the excitement or joy because guns and hunting and that stuff just ain't their thing. (ouch).  But then you paralleled it with the things of the Lord....how sometimes others aren't as excited about what we've gleaned from God's word or something He has shown or taught us when we go to tell them.....He's just not what they are most interested in at the moment ....He's not "their thing". And that we shouldn't take it personal...just keep being excited and sharing with others what brings us joy.    Two things hit home with me from that...I need to be excited about your "things"cuz you are excited.  And I must keep in check the things that excite me most...meaning it should be Jesus.  Thank you Bro Nick for always pushing me to be more like Christ.

Dear Elizabeth,
   You are beautiful!!  When I saw this picture of you it inspired me to dig out my Fall clothes and boots.  Also, I miss you so much and can't wait til our visit to come see you.  It's gonna be great.

Dear Lauren...excuse me...Mrs. McMullen,

   Wowza!  You are kicking off  Wifeyhood with a bang.  This pic made your daddy hungry and it made us both proud!   Way to go with taking care of that man of yours.  Can't wait for our invitation to the feast.  ;)

Dear Balloons,
  You are still hanging around since July at Lydia's birthday.   I'm gonna take you down soon though.  Just preparing you.   I mean, Christmas is right around the corner and I don't think you will blend in with my decorations.
ps.  I see you checking me out Nick Holden.

Dear married daughters of mine,
   I love running into y'all at Walmart. Or anywhere really. It made my day.

Dear Grandkids of mine,
  I miss you more than Mr. Bill's donkeys love gumdrops.  Can't wait to see y'all and snuggle with y'all and just hang out with y'all.  It's gonna be fun city!

Happy Friday y'all!

                                                          

linking up with jeannette today for her InstaFriday.

My backdrop secret...

Many of you have asked me about my cute backdrop from the pics in this post...

Well, here's my little secret behind all the cuteness...

It's just a vintage sheet that I pinned on my new favorite toy.

Its my new portable photography backdrop from TheLAShop.

I'm smitten with it and was so impressed with quality.
This baby opens up much wider... we left out an entire pole!  It's huge!  So I'm thinking at Christmas I will have to have a little photo sesh with my whole big ole family since I have the room for them.  ;)

 The wind kept blowing...

 But that was nothing a brick or two couldn't fix.

We just used regular straight pins to pin it on the pole.

When I think about my big stack of vintage sheets that I can use for this I get giddy!

The possiblities are endless.

Of course you can order actual photography backdrops but where's the fun in that?

And while I'm giving away secrets and behind the scenes stuff...

look at these sweet sisters.

Now look at these sisters arguing over which side they are gonna stand on..

Both of them have the same "best side".

...and a few outtakes.

I love those. 

This cute little photo sesh was so impromptu and so easy.

I know I am gonna use the backdrop for many years to come.

It was super easy to put together and it came in it's own carrying bag.

Easy peasy...my fave.

My birthday parties just got upgraded because of this sweet prop and all its possibilities.

I can't wait to try out this....

source

You should go check out TheLAShop.

It has everything and anything...from quirky to practical.

I mean, where else can you find tattoo kits, disco balls, unicycles and chicken coops all "under the same roof'?  

                                                                  

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of TheLAShop based on the product I chose. The opinions however,  are all mine.

The Wifey Club

So.  Yesterday was our first Porterville Night since the wedding.

Which means we would all be hanging out as a bunch of married folks.

That is wonderful,  surreal, and weird all rolled up in one.

So I had to commemorate the occasion.

So I formed us The Wifey Club. 

We were missing the second to oldest wifey, Mrs. Sirven...it would have been perfect with her here.

But here are the two other members...besides myself, Mrs. Holden,  the President of The Wifey Club.

(they don't know I'm the president...I just made that up.)

Mrs. Linton

She's been a wifey for a little over a year now and it seems to be agreeing with her a little bit.

Okay, a lot. Like really a lot.

And Mrs. McMullen.

She's' fresh off the turnip truck and being a wifey is a dream come true.

And this is Henry...

He's not a wifey, obviously, but we allowed him to hang out with us because he's just so darn cute.

 And this is me.

Mrs. Holden, also their momma.

  They have all been pretty excited about becoming a wifey.

I have loved being one for the past 25 years and hope they have always seen the honor and privilege I have serving their dad.  They've seen me mess it up a bunch too but I pray they left our home equipped with what they need to start off this new journey they are on.

 And I'm so glad they have each other.  

Their big sister has been a wifey almost six years now and  has paved the road of wifeyhood (and motherhood) with much experience and wisdom. It blesses me knowing they all have each other to lean on and laugh with and to do this thing together.

Being a wifey isn't always like looking through rose colored glasses.  It can be challenging...even ugly at times.  It takes work to be the woman God created us to be and the helpmates to our husbands.  It takes sacrifice and seriously, who just absolutely loves sacrificing?...In our flesh, we want things our way.

I pray that through it all...the good times and the bad times that will come,

they will always see wifeyhood as a blessing.

Something that makes their life richer.

Because it does.

Being a wifey rocks!

Being a wifey to their daddy is the best.

 When they were each born and we were choosing their names,  of course we picked something that sounded good with our last name, Holden.  We knew one day that name would change and I always wondered what their names would be.  I mean, I've been a Holden much longer now than I have been a Cooper.  And names were a super big topic in this house full of women.  I mean, they've had lists of baby names since they were all 10 years old.

It's so ironic that they all ended up with last names like Holden...

Sirven

Linton

McMullen

They all end with n's...have the same kinda sound as their original.

Thought that was neat.

So this Wifey Club thing is really cool.

Best club I've ever joined. :)

 Even the Lord likes The Wifey Club.....

"He who finds a wife finds a good thing, and obtains favor form the Lord."

Proverbs 18:22