The Wedding Party

We opted to do a first look and have a few moments before the wedding so that we could take it all in. This way we were able to really focus on the ceremony, our vows to God and each other and our prayers for the future. Here are those "First look" moments :-)




The groomsmen! What a good looking group! Ben's brothers, Nick and Jordan are on each end. And his lifelong best friends, Douglas and Joe are standing next to Cameron, Ben's little cousin.
My sisters, Hannah and Jill were my bridesmaids....i know it was the LAST thing they wanted to do but they were SO wonderful that day!




Ahhhh, the Journey Drive men!!!! From left to right: Tom, Aaron, Andrew, Stu, and Ben Briley....These were Ben's house mates through college at MTSU. Never a borning moment with these guys!
I think I love all these guys about as much as Ben does!


Our Pastor, Larry Yarborough :-)

The Wedding Reception

Above are my parents on the left and Ben's parents on the right (No family photo from my side since all of my brothers and sisters could not make it..)

The first dance

The "Daddy/Daughter" dance :-) For a CPA he surely can "cut a rug"!

Mother/Son dance :-) Donna was SO happy!
Ahhhh, the Best Man speech!
And so the party begins....

A good time was surely had by all!!!!!!!!!!!
Ben's grandmother, Earlene is a real gem!
My lovely friend Justine caught the bouquet

Time to GO! Ring the wedding bells!


My daddy with his littlest daughter :-)

The Engagement Session

I originally created this blog in order to share our engagement and wedding photos with the family and friends that couldn't make it to the 1/1/11 events. So here we are months later and I am FINALLY getting around to this..aren't I just the epitome of a procrastinator?! So for those of you who still care, without further adieu....


This is the diner downtown that Ben took me on one of our first dates, which coincidentally was also where I also got to meet some of his closest friends.
I finally had to confess to our waitress that she had been our waitress just about every time we had been to Rotier's for the last 6 years :-)
She gave us some great advice on "lovin' and a livin'" for which I will always be blessed :-)
Our favorite things: made from scratch chocholate milkshake (IN the metal cup of course!!) and an ice cold Coca Cola in a bottle...There was no time that day for a burger on french bread, but we'll be back!!





It was SO cold that day in December and we had to work fast! Thank goodness we avoided the snow until the next day. Chad you were SO awesome! Ben you were too because my hands weren't nearly as cold as they could have been :-)

I thought I was SO cool hanging outside of Emma's (the SUPERLATIVE florists, another Nashville staple)...

Thanks to our photographer Chad McClarnon :-) He prefers commercial work but opted to bless us with his talents. Chad, thanks for giving us the "hometown" advantage! If you want to check out more of Chad's work or get in touch with him you go to http://www.cwmphoto.com/

Gadgets and Gizmos

Let me start off with the fact that I LOVE my husband. I would do anything for him. He does just about anything for me. Example: Driving to my parents house in the middle of the night to see me for 5 minutes, grocery shopping for me (and my family!), driving 16 hours to meet my extended family then turning around to work summer camps until August, babysitting my little brothers and sisters complete with food fights, throwing hay for me, picking up medicines, picking up TAMPONS (GASP! Now THAT deserves a gold star!), listening to me whine for hours on end, staying IN on a Saturday night instead of going out, moving 500 miles away from Nashville just to be with me! See, he IS pretty AWESOME! I think he loves me.

But he drives me CRAZY!!!! with gadgets! If it has an electrical system, operating system, program variation, circuit board, or overall, ANY sort of blinking lights, he is GLUED! Like a bug to a bug zapper, like a college kid to beer, like a tween to Justing Beiber, like peas and carrots, Superman and Lois Lane, a politician to a mistress, or a desperate housewife to prozac!

BEN LOVES GADGETS!! From January to March he researched building his own guitar, complete with a new work bench and an architect's spread worth of instructions. April and May were filled with reprograming his computer....4 programs later we have a functioning laptop again.

Well mid-May while trying out one of his newest computer programs he found the Samsung FASCINATE, andriod phone....And so a new obsession was birthed. 8 days ago it arrived at our front door. And once it charged, I lost my Benjamin.....

Meet THE ENEMY:

Cue the Mood Music! click here and open a new tab so you can get the full effect as you continue reading....

No he is not just texting away, checking his email and surfing the web.
He has been researching better ways to make the phone run faster.
This phone has had 3 new programs thus far....

What happened to the days when people just plugged in their new phones and used them?! Apparently those days left my house LONG ago!!
Today it got a new program.
As the thing started up it started talking.....

Instantly I was wishing for Shia Labeouf because I was convinced that a TRANSFORMER was going to explode into a sport car at any moment IN MY KITCHEN!!!

Ok, maybe I'm being a little over dramatic....But seriously, look at what I've been living with for the last 8 days!

Disclaimer: I am JUST kidding. Ben knew prior to the completion of this post that he was getting ROASTED for his latest obsession and he agreed. (Expect his rebuttal soon, especially after you see the last photo).
Ben dreaming of all the things his new phone can do. Cooper wondering WHEN he will get his guy back....There, there Super Cooper, I know how you feel....You can sleep on my side of the bed tonight.

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!