The Wedding Details

January 1, 2011 was like a fairytale day for us....It was a moment in time that seems to be a page out of a story book. Here are a few of the little things that made the event just that much more special. (Above you will see an original painting of the Kennesaw Mansion where we were married above the fireplace in the sitting room, just as it had been placed upon the home's completion in the 1800's. Kennesaw was a Thoroughbred racing farm, which is also the exact halfway point between Ben's parents home and my parent's home. If you know me then you know just how fitting it was that this is where we said "I do.")

I know Benjamin worked tirelessly on my ring. I had hinted for a sapphire and I think he did a fabulous job in choosing the perfect piece to express our love and especially his for me. I had his ring picked out before he had even asked me to marry him; thank goodness I found it just in the nick of time!

Our florist, Phyllis was SUCH a love! It's true that God didn't make many blue flowers but Phyllis seemed to find just the right combo to put together EXACTLY what I had always dreamed of.
This is Ben's grooms cake. Thank you to Ms. Opal who created this masterpiece for us! It was SO delicious and he was SUPER surprised.

The little porcelain bride and groom cake topper was my great grandparent's cake topper in the 1930's and the Hungarian toasting flutes behind the cake topper were what my grandparents toasted with at their wedding 50 years before.
The DRESS!!! It was the VERY first dress I tried on once I knew we were getting married. It is a vintage piece that was slightly re-created with my tastes in mind (I LOVED the buttons!).
I was rather late to our wedding day and therefor missed a good amount of wedding party "photo time". You can read HERE to get the details on that. While waiting for me to arrive Ben had decided to write in a journal I had given him years before, all that was on his heart at that moment for me to read later. It is a letter that I will FOREVER cherish. He also had made sure that everything was in it's place for me (snack, shoes, dress: the important things!)

P.S. I know that these probably should have been posted in January, but we have been a bit busy! I'm just glad that I've finally got them on here so when a hurricane blows through Mobile in September the world wide web will have our wedding photos safe.... (I know...an oxymoron...)

Experiencing Mobile

Ben and I have had some very unique experiences together. We've attended a college convention with over 20,000 other students, we've been left in charge of groups of middle schoolers, and met multiple recording artists among other things. We've also had a few sobering experiences together. Though our fun honeymoon cruise to Cozumel lead to more fun experiences :-)

While cruising the Gulf of Mexico in January we met Stephen and Olivia, who we instantly took a liking to! They were young and fun! They have cute little kids and a sense of humor that Ben and I could definitely appreciate. Over the course of a few days we had dinner together and at some point they found us worthy enough to experience a little piece of Mobile history.

We were so excited to receive the personalized invitation you see above to the Mystic Stripers Ball in March. Here are a few photos from the night. Sorry there aren't any from the actual ball itself, we were too busy having fun!


I LOVED my dress! My "Mimi" picked this dress right off the rack at the store and knew it would fit me "like a glove". Thank you Mimi.
We were joking how Ben looks like the father from the Disney Peter Pan movie :-) So cute!
Thank you Stephen and Olivia! We had a blast and loved experiencing the "culture of Mobile". We have enjoyed getting to know you guys and your sweet little munchkins :-) We know life is busy now and hope to can catch up at the end of the summer!

Ben's Big Day

I wake up to this sweet man every morning. I love him so. I have loved him for years and didn't know. Finally, I let go and loved him and haven't look back since.

We were a bit preoccupied over his birthday weekend. I dropped the ball on being a great wife and making sure the day was properly celebrated , complete with cards and friends. I'll do better next year, I promise! In the mean time I had written a list for him before his birthday with every intention of putting it in his card. Well "Late Lee" struck again! I know its not March 5th, but here ya go anyway!

Here's 28 Things I Love About Benjamin!
1. I love your compassion for people.
2. I love your goodness.
3. I love your “up for anything” attitude.
4. I love how generous you are, with your time and just about everything else.

5. I love your awful dancing skills in our bathroom.
6. I love how you listen.
7. I love how you exemplify God's love.
8. I love your heart for me and my passions too.
9. I love your gift of hospitality.
10. I love your patience.
11. I love how persevering you are.
12. I love your willingness to sacrifice your comforts.
13. I love your decorating skills!
14. I love your fashion sense.
15. I love your sincerity in all that you do!
16. I love how play with the “munchkins”.
17. I love how you try to “fix” anything you can.
18. I love your passion for the things of God.
19. I love the way you pray.
20. I love your selfless desire to serve others.
21. I love your heart for those who don’t know Him yet.
22. I love your taste in music!
23. I love your guitar playing.
24. I love your constant quest of hobbies.
25. I love your love for baseball.
26. I love your capacity to forgive.
27. I love your appreciation of “God’s green earth”.
28. I love your spirit.
I love you more than you'll ever know! You're my best friend. I have no idea how I made it 19 years without you in my life! You taught me about grace and God's unconditional love. If it weren't for you I'd be more of a legalistic self-righteous prideful fool than I already am.

I love how you love people. You care for those around you so deeply. I'm always so excited for new people to meet you because I get to watch them discover how awesome you are all over again!

And now that I’ve written these 28 things that I love about you, I’ve realized that 28 is not nearly ENOUGH!! Thank goodness we have a lifetime together so that I may continue to tell you all that I love about you every day that we wake.

Good luck tomorrow baby! You'll be great! Love always! ~lee

Meet Mr. Cooper

March 4, 2011 was a big day for us. Not only did we return to Nashville for a visit for the first time since we got married, we met the newest member of the Mobile Gooch family:-) I was nervous. I prepared photos of our home and where 'he' might live. I changed my clothes, put on make-up and rehearsed what I might say to these people to make them understand that we were 'good enough'.

March 7, 2011 was an even bigger day. I have never been a parent but on this day I was given a peak into what a parent might feel on that ride home from the hospital.... or in my family's case the airport ;-D The responsibility, the intense desire to protect, and the excitement!

We have wanted to have one of these made since we arrived in Mobile in January. We decided to attempt maturity and wait until we have a 'job' and the Spring semester calms down....Then we decided that when we did have one of these tags made it should be for a pup that didn't have as much of a chance as the rest of the 'cute' ones with puppy breath and no sense of potty training!!! We needed a pup that needed us. One who understood that while this life is quite the party, there is work to be done too!! Our jobs are to work and go to school/clinic, while his job was to help relieve the pressures of the day with afternoon jogs and romps in the backyard, maybe a visit to the senior home around the corner and 'kisses' for all neighbors and munchkins on the street! After weeks of searching for the "perfect pup" we met Cooper on our last trip back home to Tennessee. Thanks to Diana, Greg and the rest of the fantastic volunteers at SPA in Gallatin, Cooper got to come home with Ben and I to live by the bay:-)

Ladies and Gentlemen without further adieu we introduce you to "Cooper Wrigley Gooch"

His FAVORITE thing to do is PLAY!!! He likes to play ball...Once....(We still haven't quite got the whole concept of bring the ball back..lol!)
He LOVES to play Tug-O-War!!! And buddy is he strong!


He can sit, stay, and lay down. He gets along with other dogs.
He is kid trained, house trained, kennel trained, and furniture trained....
About that furniture trained thing......
It seems that he has an affinity for my great-grandmother's wing back chair....Every night at 7:00pm after his walk, he surveys the house and then proceeds to sneakily snuggle down for the night in the ancient piece of furniture history until it's time for a final pit stop and his kennel for the night around 11:45. We give him a pass. He has yet to do ANYTHING bad, or destructive. He hasn't even looked at the sofa. He won't walk out or in the door unless I say so. So if he wants to sleep in the chair every night, he can most certainly do so :-)

Coast-it, Roast-it, Post-it

Well, the ladies definitely left their mark. The night before they left, they schemed.....And when Ben and I awoke, we found our tiny little house covered in these!

Filled with love, advice, and some observances.


One that was quite prevalent...
Yeah, we get the hint. We love y'all! I wish I could post a photo of every single post-it note but I fear I have already gone a bit overboard. But every time we find a leftover note (which, coincidentally was just YESTERDAY!!) we think of our Spring Break Beauties 2011!!!